Bonded By War
by RealHydros
Summary: During a late night stroll, Vi's life is saved by her archenemy. When Jinx unveils the horrors of Vi's long-lost past, a war looms on the horizon. The difference between friend and foe must be discerned as Vi gathers her army while Jinx deals with her own personal demons. Who will win the wars raging inside and out? Rated T for rather frequent use of the F bomb: Ye hath been warned
1. A Rough Reunion

If one were extremely sensitive to the emotional auras of others, walking past the headquarters of Piltover's finest would give them a migraine from the contrast of cool, calm annoyance and near-psychotic rage radiating from it. Inside, that person would find the two people that almost every criminal in Piltover feared; Vi and Caitlyn, Enforcer and Sheriff respectively. Given the magical nature of many in Runeterra, such a sensitivity would not be unheard of.

"We HAD her. If I'd just gone ahead and dashed!" Vi growled once more, berating herself. Piltover's worst criminal in its storied history, the girl who had been given the name "Jinx", had just challenged Vi again. This time, she had issued a challenge to a brawl in Piltover's business district. When the pair of officers had arrived, Jinx immediately began shooting wildly at the two, laughing like a maniac as always. Vi, who had seemingly dodged every bullet, had tried valiantly to subdue the girl who had proclaimed herself Vi's rival, but in the end for some reason she could not bring herself to directly punch Jinx. _Why…?_ Vi thought. A cloud of dust formed in the air as she stomped a foot down in frustraion.

"Calm down, I'm trying to finish our report, cupcake," Caitlyn said, looking up from the police report she was filling out for her records. "Besides, the only damage she did was superficial, nothing that a few days work from a couple masons won't fix," She added. Vi frowned but nodded.

Caitlyn just didn't quite understand. Jinx was Vi's archenemy. Vi was the long arm of the law, literally, and Jinx was the one criminal that Vi just couldn't seem to squash with her massive hextech gauntlets. Not for lack of opportunity; even as Vi sat down, she recounted the multiple times that she had fought Jinx, had the opportunity to land a massive blow right to the pale-skinned face of her rival and knock her to the ground like so many other lawbreakers. But every time, something inside of her, some instinct had made her hesitate, giving Jinx the opportunity to run off yelling her signature "You'll never catch me!" potentially punctuated with one of her many nicknames for the duo, such as "fathands", "hat lady" and "dorky duo".

"Caitlyn, it's not the crime I'm concerned with. You know that. But every time I have the chance… every time I could just clock her right in that cheeky damned grin… I just can't. Every. Damn. Time. I want to do it… but something tells me not to. I don't understand it!" Vi said, raising her voice in frustration. Caitlyn got up from her chair to put a hand around her charge's shoulders. Vi thought about shaking it off, but decided not to reject the comforting gesture.

"Hey. We did great today. We stopped crime, just as we're charged to do as Piltover's police force. We'll get her. And maybe we'll get her without having to resort to excessive violence," Caitlyn said with a small smile. Vi bowed her head for a second, took in a calming breath and nodded, returning the smile with a halfhearted one of her own. It was not a sincere smile, but rather a placating one. Caitlyn didn't need to know that her attempts to console the girl had failed; she had too much work ahead of her to worry about such things.

"I'm going to take a walk, clear my head a bit," Vi said, heading for the doors. As she opened the door, she heard Caitlyn's voice float out behind her.

"Not taking your gloves?" She asked. Vi scowled in annoyance as her eyes went to her gauntlets hanging on the wall.

"How many times do I gotta tell you? They're gauntlets, not gloves. And no, I won't be out long," She replied before closing the door. Caitlyn grinned; her partner was so particular about her gauntlets… She rolled her eyes and continued writing on her report. She sighed as she reached the dreaded part: damage done. _Always a pain in the arse when it comes to Jinx…_ she thought as she put pen to paper.

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"G-A-U-N-T-L-E-T-S. How is that so hard to remember? I swear she does it on purpose…" Vi muttered, flexing the tiny hands that looked so out of place to those whose typical view of Vi was the scoundrel-turned-cop pounding someone with her mighty gauntlets. She wandered from the business district, taking a moment to stop by the scene of her last battle with Jinx and shaking her head before heading into the rural area.

Her head was a tornado of thoughts and emotions, which resulted in a storm of words and frustration that Vi spoke to herself as she walked. "What is the matter with me lately… It's one fucking criminal. One girl. Why does she keep getting to me so much? Others have insulted me during crimes. It doesn't affect me like this. Why…" Vi sighed. She couldn't reach a reasonable conclusion. Caitlyn was the one good at solving mysteries, not her. If Piltover's finest was a man, Caitlyn was the brain and she was the body.

Not to say Vi wasn't intelligent in her own right. She was extremely talented with hex technology, able to create weapons out of nearly anything lying around. As a matter of fact, the gauntlets that hung on her wall were vastly modified, improved upon arms from the old mining robot she'd come across the day she met Caitlyn. At the time, she was a criminal that had been a part of a job gone wrong in a mining facility. But being a criminal wasn't a choice for her; she'd grown up on the streets and the gang she'd been folded into was her only "family." When given the chance to show heroism and good will, Vi's true colors shone as she chose to convert the old piece of machinery into weapons powerful enough to save the trapped miners with.

Vi smiled as she remembered those days and began walking around the badlands of the town. She knew every alley, every shortcut and every filthy rat hole in the town, and occasionally she liked to walk down some of the alleys and remember her roots. As such, she took a right turn into a small alleyway that most people didn't even know about; save for those that belonged to the gang Vi had once called friends.

"Long time no see, Pink," Vi whirled around at the sound of a familiar voice to see an old "friend" in her former gang leader. "Pink" had been Vi's code name, so to speak, given to her due to her uniquely natural hair color. "The ol' group just ain't the same without you, y'know. Then again, these days you'd be more likely to try and get us all locked up, wouldn't you?"

"Sammy… it has been a while. I haven't even seen the Alley Rats active for some time. I didn't know you still existed, to be honest. And since you haven't really been committing crimes, what reason would I have to lock you up?" Vi wondered. Sam gave a derisive snort and shook her head. For some reason, Vi's usual toughness was gone and she actually felt depressed to see her former friend looking at her like that.

"You didn't seem to have any problems throwing Arahmala in the slammer for petty theft. Then again, you don't even bother to keep in touch with the people that practically raised you in your teenage years, so why would you know that he was with us?" Sammy spat. Vi raised her hands in a sign of peace. This was not the kind of reunion Vi wanted to have, she knew that much. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Sammy, I'm on the other side of the law now. You know that. I help Piltover be a better place rather than helping myself," She replied. She knew when Sammy was truly angry. And Sammy was truly angry. Vi began to slowly back away, but barely moved before being bludgeoned from behind. From the ground, she saw a huge shadow and a massive hand come down, grabbing her by the throat and yanking her to her feet. Vi felt the cold, sick feeling of blood running down her neck and moaned.

"You betrayed us, Pink. You sided with them pen pushers. Wish it didn't have to be this way," her attacker said before slamming her fist into Vi's face. Vi picked herself up on all fours and put her hand to her lips. It came away bloody. She gave a weak laugh and shook her head. This was a fight she would not win, that much she knew. _You're not taking your gloves? _Caitlyn's voice rang like a grim slap of irony in her head.

"Nice to see you too, Helga. Sammy still got you under her- UHN!" The law enforcer didn't get to finish her sentence as a mace struck her in the back, drawing blood and once again flooring her. She recognized another member, Ramone, as the one responsible for the blow and realized that she was trapped. More attacks followed, Sammy standing to the side and smiling sadly as Vi was beaten to a pulp. She began to feel lightheaded from blood loss, but a flame inside her that had driven her from childhood to this moment stoked her survival instincts.

Vi finally rolled out of the way of Ramone's mace after the fourth hit, drawing resiliency from some unknown part inside of her. Her back was shredded, at least two ribs were broken and her nose was bleeding, but by God if she was going down she'd go down fighting. She balled her fists and swung, but Helga grasped Vi's small fist in her own enormous hand and threw Vi to the ground. Vi heard the sound of several fingers severing like a snapped pencil and cried out as she fell.

As she looked up at Ramone's mace above her head, she closed her eyes and accepted her fate. She'd finally made her big mistake. She'd always had the idea that she was living on a borrowed chance, one lent to her by Piltover's sherrif, and her time had finally ran out.

The sound of electricity drew every eye in the alley save Vi's, but the unmistakable sounds of raw hextech energy flying through the air caught the beaten girl's attention. The unmistakable sound she'd heard so many times when she was working on her gauntlets rang clear in her ears like a beacon of light. Her eyes flew open, blurry from the tears of pain and puffed from the black eyes blooming. She saw a flash of what looked like lightning, heard a scream, heard an explosion and finally caught an eye-full of teal before all went black.


	2. Sisters By Blood

"Ooooooooh… god damn, my head." Vi groaned as she came to. She noticed two things immediately; her wounds, while not entirely healed, certainly were significantly more healed than they should have been. Her bones were in as many pieces as they should have been. Her back, shredded as it had been, now bore several lacerations that had been bandaged with plain white cloth. She could feel a damp sensation under it, meaning the bandage was somehow treated.

She also noticed that wherever she was, it was probably secluded judging from the excessive amount of lighting. She had to be somewhere underground or something. "How long how I been out…?" Vi wondered to herself. A response she was not expecting made her jump.

"Oh, about three hours. Honestly thought ya mighta died on me," Vi's eyes widened. That slightly high-pitched, happy-go-lucky voice only belonged to one person. And if Jinx was around, Vi could very well be dead; Jinx would have her beloved Pow-Pow and Fishbones, while Vi didn't even have her gauntlets. Vi's eyes scanned the room for any trace of the maniac but found none.

"Jinx, let's just get this over with. Come out and-" Vi stopped in surprise; Jinx was literally just standing in the doorway that Vi had just seen, leaning against the frame with that familiar taunting grin of hers plastered on her face. In her hands, of course, was Pow-Pow the machine gun. Fishbones, her signature rocket launcher was strapped to her back. Vi wondered once again how such a sickly-thin woman could carry all that equipment before snapping back to the moment.

Slowly, deliberately, Jinx stalked towards Vi. That maniacal gleam shone in her eyes as she backed Vi into the corner. Vi grimaced as she waited for the girl to fire… and promptly gaped as Jinx tossed her weapon to the side. Pow-Pow slid across the floor, as did Fishbones and even her stun gun. If Vi was surprised at this turn of events, she was downright shocked and slightly disturbed by Jinx latching onto Vi in a fierce embrace.

Vi's mind did an amazing job of completely going out of order as she tried to process things. Jinx…was…hugging her? Just yesterday she'd been shooting at her! Vi's arms moved very awkwardly as she tried to figure out what to do. Eventually, she decided to roll with the punches and lightly put her arms around her archrival. Jinx squeezed tighter in return and Vi raised an eyebrow.

When Jinx released her, she was still grinning. But this time it was… different, Vi noticed. There was nothing insane about the smile Jinx wore in her eyes and on her face. It was too warm to be insane. Her eyes were focused, caring, welcoming as opposed to the usual maniacal, wild-eyed girl Vi was used to. "You… you tried to kill me just yesterday. Today you're hugging me. You really are fucking nuts," Vi muttered.

"Aw, c'mon, I was just havin' a little fun with you and Hat Lady. Besides, did I hit you?" Jinx responded coyly. Vi's mind took her back to the fight. Indeed, Jinx had shot at her multiple times… but she hadn't actually aimed for either cop, Vi realized as she replayed the battle in her head. All of those "dodged" bullets weren't dodged at all; they'd never been coming at her to begin with. Jinx had just been playing a very dangerous game of dodge ball?!

"Didn't think so," Jinx said after a moment of watching Vi struggle to come up with an answer. "Momma wouldn't have been too pleased if I would've killed you," She added over her shoulder as she skipped towards the door, beckoning for Vi to follow. Vi cocked her head. _Momma_? She thought even as she slowly, carefully trailed Jinx, still wary of a trap.

"Uhm… your mother… does she know where you are? What you do?" Vi asked with trepidation. Jinx stopped cold, making Vi instantly regret asking. She turned around and looked at Vi with a sad smile. "I'm sorry… You mentioned your mother and I just…" Vi grimaced; she had obviously somehow offended her host/rival/whatever the hell Jinx was right now. She opened her mouth to amend it but Jinx cut over her.

"You… you don't even remember, do you?" Jinx asked, disappointment heavy in her voice. Vi stared at her. Remember? Remember what? "Not even a teensy-weensy bit? Jeez, fathands, when does your memory even start?" The blue-haired criminal asked. Vi frowned and furrowed her brow as she shook off the off-hand insult. It was true; Vi didn't remember too much of her early life. Her earliest clear, coherent memories came from her days with the Alley Rats, and she was about six years old when that had happened. As a matter of fact, Vi remember nothing of her parents or early childhood, a psychological defense mechanism that served to help Vi through the trauma of life on the streets at that early age.

"Aw, come on. The Vicious Vixen can't remember-" Vi didn't even hear the rest of Jinx's sentence. That name… Vicious Vixen? Memories were rushing through her head. A woman talking to an unseen figure telling them that the Vicious Vixen had struck again. More voices, some rather familiar and others not, raced through Vi's head, all repeating that name in some context that Vi could only assume referred to her.

"How do you know that name?" Vi finally snapped back into the real world, frustrated and confused. Jinx closed her eyes, and for the first time in Vi's life she saw a tear begin to roll down the girl's pale face. She sniffled a couple times, then turned and began to walk away. Vi hesitated. Should she follow? Why was she so concerned about this woman's feelings suddenly? After a moment, Jinx looked back and motioned for the officer to follow. Seeing no better course of action, she complied.

Through several rooms and corridors they walked, each stinking of the sewage pipes that ran above and below them. Some were lit, others were an unkempt mess, but it seemed that Jinx called this foxhole home. Vi's stomach flopped several times, stopping only when they reached the bluenette's bedroom. Vi's nostrils quickly recovered from the sudden shock of olfactory changes; this room smelled of lavender and lilac rather than the shitholes that lay beyond the door.

Jinx went over to a walk-in closet, making Vi wonder how the hell Jinx had gotten a walk-in closet down here. "Does this look familiar?" Jinx asked, offering a scroll to Vi. The officer, whose eyes had been wandering the room in fascination, quickly jerked in her head to focus on the object and bent down. It seemed quite old, causing Vi to be careful when unfolding it so as to not damage it. The scroll was a picture, one that Vi's mind could not register.

Both women present in the room were in the picture, together with an adult figure in the background. They each had the other in an embrace, and at the bottom Vi could make out red writing.

"'Cause no matter what happens, where we go, what we do, we'll always be sisters. " Vi stood, unmoving, eyes roaming downward where she saw Jinx's scribbled name and what she recognized as her own chicken-scratch signature. Could it really be…? Vi slowly turned and looked at Jinx, her mind now in overdrive. Of course! Vi had always wondered why Jinx had chosen to single her out rather than the sheriff herself, Caitlyn. Jinx…was her… sister.

"This whole time… you were just playing," Vi realized aloud. Jinx had never intended to harm anyone with her antics. Sure, her brand of "fun" often ended in property damage and a night's worth of writing for Caitlyn, and people had been harmed anyway, but all along Jinx truly had just been having fun… with her sister. But she had killed people. Harmed innocents, destroyed property en masse. Why?

"We used to play Cops and Robbers all the time as kids… you probably don't remember that," Jinx said quietly. Vi shook her head a couple times; Jinx's voice and quiet didn't compute in her head. "I don't suppose that picture jogs any memories, eh?" She asked hopefully. Her head drooped when VI shook her head in negative. "Well… I hoped that you would maybe realize the truth, bringing you back here. Guess it didn't work…"

"How are my injuries as healed as they are? If I've only been out three hours, those should still be pretty fresh," Vi jarringly changed the subject. Her mind simply could not process such an idea all at once. Jinx grinned.

"A little potion here, a couple jerry-rigged hextech medical tools there. Hey, times are tough for a criminal who committed the worst crime spree in the town," She replied, momentarily sounding like the Jinx that Vi was familiar with. Then she sighed. "So… you don't remember anything. I assume you'll want to take me in, then," And to Vi's utter amazement, Jinx placed her hands behind her back and dropped to her knees.

Vi considered. This was the moment she'd been waiting for ever since Jinx first challenged her at the Piltover treasury. She had a pair of handcuffs on her belt… she could easily detain Piltover's most wanted criminal right here and now. But it somehow felt… wrong. And now Vi knew why. It was the same reason she could not bring herself to hit Jinx; something deep inside her knew that they truly were sisters. Vi tilted her head as she thought, and finally smiled as the perfect solution hit her.

She handcuffed Jinx, then went back and took Pow-Pow in onr arm and Fishbones in the other. "Lead the way," Vi said, knowing that only Jinx knew the way back to town. Jinx frowned, confused, but nodded anyway, hands secured behind her back as she led Vi through the ran-down, rotten compound she called home and out into the freshly-broken dawn of the morning.


	3. Caitlyn's Judgment

Vi couldn't believe it. Jinx had obediently came with her right to the police station, despite having every opportunity to bolt. Now she stood at the door, waiting for Caitlyn to answer Vi's knocking. "I swear I'm gonna kick the damn door down if she doesn't answer it in a minute…" Vi muttered. Jinx gave a small smile, but her mind was racing. Yesterday her mind… well, she really hadn't had much of one. She had a great memory; she could easily rattle off every password to every maximum security area in Piltover. But ever since Vi had began to accept her relationship to the girl, Jinx had felt… lucid? She felt as though she was slowly waking from a bad dream.

It took two more knocks to bring Caitlyn to the door. "What's the-" Caitlyn stopped cold at the sight before her. Vi, beaten and bruised. Jinx, detained. And both of them within speaking distance not insulting each other or threatening beatings. Caitlyn's eyes flew wildly between the criminal and her protégé, who smiled weakly. "You… have some explaining to do.. And you," She said, pointing at Jinx, "you and I have a trip down to-" Vi put a hand up.

"Cupcake, there's a lot to explain. A lot. Just let us in," She said. Caitlyn stared. Vi was inviting her archrival into the police station? Caitlyn nodded numbly as both cop and criminal stepped into the building. Vi made her way to her own personal room, both ladies in tow, and rounded on Jinx. Caitlyn took a step back; NOW Vi was gonna hit her. As Vi'd once put it, she was going to "wipe that stupid grin off her face". Caitlyn wasn' going to interfere. Vi had beaten herself up far too much for far too long over this one. Caitlyn's eyes went wide at the sight of Vi unlocking Jinx's handcuffs. What. The. Fuck.

"Vi… Have you gone completely insane?" Caitlyn demanded, opting to hold off on the verbal obscenities. Vi shook her head and Jinx grinned. This was going to be a spectacle worthy of popcorn… She shook her wrists as the shackles fell loose in Vi's hand, stretching her arms and feeling her arm-bone (yes, the scientific term) pop in its socket.

"Cait… You know how I don't remember much about my parents and early childhood, right?" Vi began. Caitlyn nodded with a sad, sympathetic smile. "Look at this," Vi told her, presenting the sheriff with the "contract" Jinx had kept. Caitlyn inspected it meticulously. "That's my signature, Cupcake. And hers," Vi added, jerking a thumb in Jinx's direction.

"Vi… No way in hell. No way in hell are you trying to tell me what I think you're telling me…" Caitlyn stuttered. Vi closed her eyes, trying to search for words. Luckily, Jinx was never out of words.

"Yep! We're related! Sisters! BFFs! Same momma new drama!" She exclaimed, her chin rested on Vi's shoulder with that grin that Vi had promised to wipe away. Thankfully, Jinx was a bit quicker on the draw than Vi currently was because no one else was there to catch Caitlyn as she fainted on her feet.

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"So now what?" Caitlyn had recovered from her fainting spell, been brought back to the reality she practically refused to believe and finally accepted it. Now Jinx sat in a jail cell, the door open and both arms of the law as well as the sheriff in front of it. Vi smiled She'd made her mind up a while ago about what she wanted to do with Jinx.

"Cupcake… remember when we first met?" She asked. Caitlyn, confused, nodded. "What was I back then?" Vi prodded. Jinx grinned. She knew where this was going. But would the woman whose life she'd made so miserable for so long give it a chance?

"You were a girl who had just saved a bunch of miners that needed a home," Caitlyn said with a smile as she remembered that day. Vi shook her head and sighed, exasperated.

"And before that?" She continued.

"You were a criminal on the streets, pulling crimes and heists with that detestable gang. You hurt a lot of peop-" Caitlyn stopped cold as she noticed just who _else_ she was describing. She shot a look at Jinx, who waved with a chipper smile. Caitlyn turned back to Vi expectantly.

"Okay. And what did you do with me when you could have and, by the book, should have brought me in?" Vi asked with a smile as realization dawned on Caitlyn.

"Vi… You cannot be serious. She terrorized this entire city. Everyone knows her name, her face, everything. And she's nothing but a sign of impending chaos to those people," Caitlyn argued.

"So were the Alley Rats. You remember how terrified the townsfolk were when they found out that one of the Alley Rats was Piltover's new enforcer? They freaked out for a bit, then saw that I did right by the name of Piltovian justice. How would YOU react if you were a criminal and caught sight of us three coming to stop you?" Vi shot back.

Caitlyn pursed her lips. Vi's mind was clouded by a storm of emotions and she wasn't thinking clearly, something that wasn't uncommon for Vi. But this time it was love, not anger that was blinding her. "Vi, she is a terrorist. She's got a kill count that rivals your damage costs. I know it seems unfair, but you'll understand in time. Since you most likely did not read the criminal her rights," Vi's eyes narrowed at her partner in stopping crime. NOW rage was clouding her better judgment. Her right fist balled and she just restrained herself from slugging Caitlyn, choosing to instead storm out of the jail while Caitlyn read Jinx her Miranda rights.


	4. Jinx, The Shattered Cannon

Caitlyn sighed. Vi was supposed to be filing paperwork tonight, but she was MIA. Not that Caitlyn didn't know where she was; she was visiting Jinx in jail, like she had been religiously for the past three weeks. She bit her lip. Was she really justified in this situation? She'd given one sister a chance, and it had worked out. But Jinx… She shook the notion that she was playing favorites from her mind and continued Vi's work.

The sound of the station's door swinging and slamming several minutes later told the Sheriff that Vi had arrived. She gave a small smile and placed the papers she had in her hands on her desk and emerged from her office into the foyer to greet her partner. "Vi, I've already gotten a head start on your filing assignment for you. Just need you to-"

"Save it, Caitlyn. It'll get done, don't worry your pretentious fucking head off. Give me five minutes to fucking get my gauntlets off in any case," Caitlyn's face fell and her head drooped as the increasingly familiar cold that could rival the Frejlord's hit her like Vi's gauntlets from the ruffian's demeanor.

Caitlyn took a few minutes to do just that. Vi settled in, sat down at her own desk across from Caitlyn's and took the unorganized mess of reports, criminal profiles and mug shots into her hands before opening several drawers and beginning to sort. Caitlyn waited a couple minutes before poking her head in.

"Vi?" She began. The brawler ignored her. "Vi, come now. I understand you're angry with me. I know it has to be hard-" Vi swallowed hard and ceased her sorting, gently setting the remaining papers down and slowly, rather eerily looking up at her partner. Caitlyn did not like the gleam in her eyes. Not one bit.

"You understand? Are you fucking kidding me?!" Vi exploded. The cold shoulder suddenly became surprisingly welcome to Caitlyn in the presence of Vi's burning rage. "You don't know what it's like to have grown up on the rough side, not having anyone in your god damn life besides a bunch of street thugs. And then, when the one person who I could ACTUALLY love comes around, you lock her up without even THINKING about it?" She roared.

"Jinx is the worst criminal Piltover has ever seen! She's killed hundreds of people!" Caitlyn shot back hotly. Vi snorted.

"And before that, who were the worst criminals?" She retorted. Caitlyn ground her teeth. She knew the answer to that and she knew where Vi was steering this.

"…The Alley Rats. But you didn't kill like Jinx did!" She added hastily. Vi gave a nasty laugh that made Caitlyn recoil.

"All those heists? All those jobs we pulled where getting a cut of the money was crucial to my survival? You REALLY think I don't have some blood on my hands? Just because you turned a blind eye to it doesn't mean it didn't happen," Vi said. Caitlyn closed her eyes. She hadn't wanted to think about it nor believe it at the time she'd deputized Vi, but she knew Vi was right.

"Yes. I made a mistake when I had a lapse in judgment with you. I got lucky in your case. You shaped up, you got your act together and you became an upstanding enforcer. I can't risk that just to be fair to what remains of your fami- er… I mean…" Caitlyn's words ground to a halt as she realized just how insensitive that remark had been.

Vi was furious. She jumped from her seat and slid the chair back with such force that it hit the wall and broke. The pink-haired girl marched around the desk, looked down to lock eyes with the shorter woman and bent down so that their faces were barely an inch from each other. "Don't you ever, ever, I mean fucking EVER talk about my family like that!" She barked before slapping Caitlyn across the face and storming out of the building.

Caitlyn rubbed her jaw. The fact that it was still intact told her that Vi had, miraculously, shown restraint when she'd hit her. Piltover's finest sighed and went back over to the desk that had somehow survived Vi's anger and pulled her own chair up. After all, Vi sure as hell wasn't going to finish filing those papers.

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Two weeks had passed since Vi slapped her partner. She had barely spoken to Caitlyn save when absolutely necessary, electing to spend most of her time down at the jail with Jinx. As such, Caitlyn was left to man (woman?) the station by herself for the most part. This reminded Caitlyn of a time before Vi, before that fateful mining accident. She'd had no partner then, and now it felt the same way.

The sound of a phone ringing brought her away from her thoughts, causing Caitlyn's head to snap to attention. She reached over and placed the receiver to her ear. "Officer Caitlyn, state your business,"'' She said. She frowned; this line was reserved for the volunteer officers, meaning there was probably a crime in progress.

"Officer, we have a vandalism and robbery in progress at the farmer's market. Witnesses are saying they've seen several members of the old Alley Rats around and about, so be careful," Caitlyn recognized the voice as one of her better honoraries and grimaced. She thanked the man and hung up.

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"Vi!" Vi's face turned stony as she heard her partner's voice call to her, interrupting the joke she was about to tell her sister. "We've got a job. A vandalism perpetrated by your old friends," She added. Vi's eyes widened.

"The Alley Rats?" She asked sharply as she gathered her gauntlets. Caitlyn nodded as they piled into their cruiser, the engine roaring to life as the lights screamed their warning atop. Caitlyn punched the gas and the pair sped off to the crime scene. Watching her sister leave, Jinx considered her options. She looked at the number pad that controlled the lock on her cell and smirked as she twirled one of the many small explosive devices she kept hidden on her person in her fingers.

"Boom time," She said to no one in particular with a laugh. She reached through the bars of her cell, slapped the sticky bomb to the keypad and…

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Vi and Caitlyn had been under fire the moment they'd arrived. The cruiser itself was damaged and both officers were in fierce combat with several members of the old gang, some of which Vi recognized as her attackers from her last encounter. Vi took after them with extreme prejudice now that she had her gauntlets.

Caitlyn was not a melee fighter, however, and her distance shooting was not proving effective against her marks. So ineffective, in fact, that focusing a hair too long on one shot cost her dearly. Knocked to her back from behind, she grimaced as her spine roared in agony. A sword bore down on her face and her eyes widened as the blade plunged down. After a moment, Caitlyn opened the eyes she'd squeezed shut in anticipation to find the sword clattering next to her head and the wielder flat on the ground, convulsing from the waves of electricity that flowed through him.

A pale white hand came into view, drawing Caitlyn up to a vertical base. Caitlyn's eyes traced the path of that hand up to its wrist, its tattoo-laden arm and up to the teal-framed face she knew she'd find. The familiar smirk on Jinx's face made Caitlyn want to smack the girl but she refrained. "How in the bloody hell are you here?" She asked.

"Your jail cells aren't exactly the most secure to hold someone like me. And you're welcome for saving your life," Jinx added. Before Caitlyn could get another word in, Jinx hefted Pow-Pow and began to fire on the Alley Rats that weren't already knocked out.

"Stop! You're going to kill-" Jinx just sighed and kept firing, missing her targets every time. Over the course of several minutes, though, Caitlyn began to notice that each remaining member was being forced to dodge right toward each other until the four of them nearly collided right in front of the officer.

Jinx grinned, dropped Pow-Pow and made a flashy show of twirling her stun gun from its hip mount up to bear on the thugs before firing, sending a hex-fused energy pulse through them strong enough to keep them quite still as Vi began to use her handcuffs. Caitlyn looked at Jinx, who gestured to the crooks and as she ran to make the arrest she understood. Jinx had been herding them, just as she'd been playing with the pair of officers the night before her arrest.

With the four conscious members detained and the others being hauled away, Vi turned to Caitlyn with a look that so dearly made Caitlyn want to smack it off her face. It was smug, challenging, questioning and happiness in the same expression. Caitlyn narrowed her eyes and looked at the blue-haired menace before her. "You, my office, now," She said, pointing at Jinx. "And you, wipe that damn look off your face and follow," She added to Vi. The brawler grinned as she got into the squad car while Caitlyn placed Jinx in the back.

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"Alright, let's review the facts," Caitlyn began. The trio had returned to the station, and the two sisters sat across from Caitlyn in anxious anticipation while Caitlyn sat behind her desk, eyeballing the both of them. "You've killed enough people to quite possibly reach triple digits. You've caused more property damage in a year than entire wars have in the past-"

"Hey, that also created jobs though. Gotta think economically," Jinx chimed in brightly. Caitlyn rolled her eyes and sighed.

"If I may finish? You're a convicted felon on over…" Caitlyn pulled down several large scrolls from her files, "five hundred counts ranging from petty theft to murder. You want me to deputize you just because I gambled on your sister?" She finished.

"If it helps, I've bashed a man's face in with some of my older-model gauntlets before," Vi chirped. Caitlyn stared. Jinx stared. Vi's face became a sheepish grin.

"Ignoring the fact that you just admitted to at least two counts of aggravated assault and murder… The fact is, you've shown every sign of being absolutely, completely criminally insane," Caitlyn said finally. Jinx sighed and hung her head. She closed her eyes and silently accepted the verdict.

"Now, those facts would normally make this a very open and shut case. But there's one complication with the situation," Jinx looked up, confused. "Jinx isn't sitting before me. Someone else is. With that in mind… no one knows your real name. The town _gave _you your name; at least, the one we know you by. Care to open up?" Caitlyn asked sternly.

Jinx took a deep breath and took a moment to collect and organize her thoughts. Sadly, she had to think hard to remember her past. After a moment's silence, she swallowed, cleared her throat and sighed.

"My name… is Jessebelle. You'd always shorten it to Jessie," Jinx added with a look at Vi. "The night my… uhm…" Jinx stopped. Vi did not remember what had happened. Why she'd never known her parents. Jinx did, and it was almost too painful to remember it. Rather than endure such agony, she danced around it.

"My past… is hard to talk about for me. So painful to remember that I abandoned my identity, my own self, and tried to throw it all away in exchange for… well, for Jinx. I lost my mind, sis. Threw it out and hoped I'd never have to suffer its pain again. But you know how it is, running from inevitable pain. It's just going to be worse when it catches up," Jinx gave a slight chuckle through the tears that she'd began to shed. Vi grinned and flexed her fists.

"I'll give you the short version. A Noxian agent murdered my… no, our parents at a very young age. Vi saved us, but in doing so she managed to injure herself badly enough to suffer severe amnesia. The pair of us got split up immediately afterward. After that, I slowly lost contact with reality. I didn't _want_ contact with reality," Jinx finished.

"So you were criminally insane, but now it's all better. That seems… convenient," Caitlyn said. She waited with baited breath. She was testing Jinx. Pushing, prodding, trying to find out if she really was an entirely different person. Jinx's pink pupils introduced themselves directly to Caitlyn's brown ones in a rather long staredown.

"I accept responsibility for my crimes, Hat L- Officer," Jinx corrected. Caitlyn's eyes widened. Jinx had not only checked herself from insulting her, but also corrected herself by respecting her. "If you want to keep me detained, I understand. I won't pretend that some other person killed those people and destroyed that property."

Caitlyn smiled. "Fair enough. Vi, escort her back to the jail," She said. Vi's face fell and Jinx put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's right, Vi. I did a lot to deserve the sentence," She said with a sad smile. Vi shook her head and hugged her sister tight as Caitlyn rummaged around in her cabinet. The two were at the door when Caitlyn cleared her throat..

"And make sure she locks the door on the way out," She said. Three objects flew from Caitlyn's right hand directly toward Jinx. Having been the mastermind behind so many heists requiring precision reflexes, she had no problem snatching them from the air. Vi bent over her shoulder, raised an eyebrow and looked up at Caitlyn. In Jinx's hand lay a key ring with several keys on it, a badge that matched the ones that Vi and Caitlyn wore on their clothes and a small, brass device. On the left side was a red button. On the front was a speaker. And below the speaker were the engraved words "Loose Cannon."

Jinx cocked her head and looked at Vi when she nudged the convict. In Vi's hand was another, similar device but it read "bad cop" below the speaker. Turning to Caitlyn, she saw the smiling sheriff's own brass box that said "good cop" on it. "…Communicators. A badge… Are you…?"

"Jessebelle of Piltover, you are hereby deputized by myself, Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover with Vi, Enforcer of Piltover as witness. I present you now with a badge that signifies not only your position, but your responsibilities to the law, to the station and most importantly to the people," Caitlyn said, sounding extremely solemn and serious. Then she winked. "You're also on my good side… so long as you make me as proud of my decision as I think you will," She said.


	5. The Noxian Assassination

Everyone in the room stood stock still for a moment. Slowly, Vi made her way behind her desk and over to Caitlyn, who stood to her full height (a good four inches below Vi's chin) and locked eyes with her. And Vi lifted Caitlyn off her feet into what Caitlyn could swear was an attack meant to kill by suffocation. Vi's face burrowed into Caitlyn's left shoulder and the sheriff immediately felt her sleeve become warm and damp. She smiled, wormed around enough to force Vi to loosen her grip and put her hand over Vi's pink hair as Vi's muffled gratitude mixed in with her emotional outpour.

Jinx looked on and blinked a few times. "…I'm scared" She said.

Vi finally put her partner down. "Cait… I'm so sorry I slapped you…" Jinx's jaw dropped.

"You slapped her?! Wow. Talk about ballsy," She said in awe. Caitlyn rolled her eyes.

"If anything was ballsy, it was me saying 'no' to a woman who could, and I quote 'bash my face in'," She laughed. Then she got serious. "There is one issue to deal with, though: your living arrangements. You can't live in the shitholes of Piltover anymore," Caitlyn told her new partner. Jinx bit her lip. She'd never even thought of the day when she would be of sound enough mind to care about or plan for a proper life, and as such had no answer for Caitlyn. But Vi did, and she slung an arm around Jinx's shoulder.

"She'll stay with me," She answered simply. Caitlyn grimaced.

"May God have mercy on Piltover," She muttered as she returned to the organizing she had been doing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vi's home wasn't exactly fancy; Caitlyn was better off due to her parents as well as her own right in the town, and Vi didn't spend much time at home so she didn't pay it much mind. That would explain the reason for the lack of maintenance to the place; hextech pieces and parts were scattered about in Vi's "hex garage" as the sign over the doorway leading into it read. The kitchen was littered with dishes that were done maybe once a month, every floor in the place desperately needed a broom and the only thing neat about her bedroom was the bed.

"Sis… your place is a one-woman home," Jinx remarked. "There's no way I can just intrude in and-" Vi gave a laugh.

"I'll figure something out. But you're not spending any more time in that underground sinkhole. It makes me sick just knowing now that my sister was living like that," She replied, her stomach wretching as the smell of that place seemed to penetrate her nostrils again. Jinx smiled.

"Betcha that didn't much come to mind when you were chasin' me through Piltover's treasury, though," She said with a grin. Vi flinched and sighed. "Just messin' with ya. Yer gonna hafta learn to lighten up a bit now that I'm around for goo-" Jinx was interrupted by a scream. Both girls whirled around to see Lux of Demacia running for her life, chased by a figure that seemed to flash before their eyes, too fast to identify. "As Hat Lady might say… We're on the case," Jinx said, loading up Pow-Pow. Vi nodded and they were out the door.

Thankfully, Lux had ran past Caitlyn's house as well, because as the other girls passed her house the sheriff had already hit the ground running, aiming her father's rifle and taking potshots at the unknown pursuer. Jinx rolled her eyes as her target laughed; potshots weren't gonna hit anything at this pace. "Jinx, what the hell are you-" Caitlyn didn't even get to finish her sentence.

"BOMBS AWAY!" Jinx cried cheerily, hefting Fishbones on her shoulder and firing a rocket. The explosion sent the shadowy figure flying as a resulting cloud of dirt and dust obscured their vision. Vi and Caitlyn rushed forward to the blast site, praying that they wouldn't find anything dead. What they found was actually rather amusing.

Katarina of Noxus was facedown on the ground, groggy from being launched right onto her head from the explosion. A very scared Luxanna stood staring, light magic still balled in her hand just in case. Jinx sauntered up, blew the smoke off of Fishbones and smirked before pulling her stun gun off her hip. She grinned, aimed, and before Caitlyn could say a word…

ZAP!

THAT woke Katarina up, but she now found herself immobilized. Vi took the opportunity to grab Katarina and slam her to the ground again. Caitlyn smacked her forehead and sighed. "Vi, I believe they she is already adequately detained. Are you alright, Lux?" She added, turning to Demacia's warrior princess. Lux nodded, staring down at Katarina.

"I… I believe this was an assasination attempt," Lux said, giving Jinx an uncertain look. She'd heard things about the blue-haired imp that had sent Piltover on its heels with a crime spree the likes of which the town had never seen. But now it seemed as though the criminal had become deputized. She knew Vi came to be in her position in a similar fashion, but still… The reports made Jinx sound bat-shit insane. Yet the girl holstering her still-smoking signature rocket launcher seemed to resemble the Jinx of lore only in appearance.

"You just…had… to be in fucking Piltover," Katarina groaned. Lux smirked.

"The bitch has a point. What the hell're you doing in Piltover? And why not just run to Ezreal's place, you ought to know where it is by now," Vi wondered, still pinning aforementioned Katarina under her grip. Katarina gave a weak laugh and grinned, blood dripping from her upper lip and tingeing her teeth. Her tongue curved from her mouth, removed some of the blood and to the disgust of the officers smiled.

"She got caught off guard. The little girl didn't know what to do faced with someone such as myself so she just ran and kept running. You got lucky, princess. It won't happen again," Katarina added. Jinx narrowed her eyes. She'd come and gone from Noxus more than enough to know its politics. Katarina absolutely hated Garen. She wanted the man dead, she knew that much.

"Can't quite kill the bear on your own, so you go after the cub instead eh?" Jinx began. Vi turned her head to look quizzically at her sister, who motioned for Vi to let the assassin to her feet. "I'm one of the worst criminals this side of Runeterra and even I find that a dirty tactic; not that a Noxian would care how low they had to sink to appease their desires," she spat. The criminals and other lowlives Jinx had encountered in Noxus had given her a healthy hatred for the city and everything it stood for.

"The whackjob with the talking gun that blows people up for fun is giving me a fucking morality lecture?" Katarina gave a derisive snort. "And they wonder why no one knows your origins. You probably incinerated what remained of your family with good ol' Fishbones over there after-" A fire flared in Jinx's eyes and she brought her stun gun to bear again. Vi released Katarina just in time to avoid being shocked as Jinx's weapon sent the assassin to the ground in convulsions. Jinx held the trigger long enough to see the redhead's eyes roll into her head before throwing it aside.

"YOU. KNOW. NOTHING. ABOUT. MY. PARENTS! YOU HEAR ME?! NOT. A. DAMN. THING!" Jinx roared, the insane glint shining in her eyes as she punctuated each word with a flurry of hard right hands to the Noxian's face. The ex-con made to swing again, forcing Vi to drag her sister off. Jinx struggled in her grasp. "YOU ARE SO FUCKING LUCKY MY SISTER'S HERE! NEXT TIME I SEE YOU I'LL-" Vi clamped a bare hand over Jinx's mouth, looking wide-eyed at Caitlyn.

"That," Caitlyn said, pointing at Jinx, "is EXACTLY how I feel whenever I have to stop you from nearly killing someone with those gauntlets. Maybe now you can refer back to how you feel right now the next time you force me to restrain _you_," She told Vi. Katarina was shocked, holding her jaw and bleeding from the nose as well as her lip. Lux was just as shocked, finally breaking the silence that impregnated the air as Caitlyn handcuffed Katarina; no matter where the chase started, it had ended on her turf and Katarina was Caitlyn's responsibility as such.

"…Jinx. That is you, right? The 'insane' criminal with a penchant for torturing Vi?" Lux began tentatively. Jinx's rage subsided enough for her to smirk at the list of accolades, but it still boiled inside of her. She nodded and Lux returned the smile. "Looks like you saved my life back there… thank you. And I apologize that you had to be hurt in the process," She said. Jinx took a deep breath, gently shook Vi off of her and sighed.

"It's a touchy subject, that's all. Besides, that woman truly does need the shit beaten out of her some day… It's no biggie," She added to Lux. Lux nodded, still a little shaken by the events of the past hour or so. Vi slid her gauntlets back on and motioned for Lux to follow her, making a mental note to ask Jinx just how well she knew Katarina. Jinx seemed to have dealings with her and Vi wanted to know why.

"Come on. We need to get you back home. Garen and Jarvan need to be made aware of the situation; Jinx is right, Katarina was going to use you to get to Garen. Katarina's a slippery bitch, so I won't be surprised if she gets loose and comes after you against," Vi said. Lux nodded and the two took off. This left Caitlyn and Jinx standing with a handcuffed Katarina.

"…Do you have her? I think I'm going to go home if you do before she makes me mad when Vi isn't around," Jinx said after a moment. Caitlyn nodded and gave Katarina a withering glare as the assassin opened her mouth again. Katarina smirked and stared Jinx down..

"What, is the little nutcase gonna crack under one little insult? You don't exactly live up to your reputation, Jinx," She remarked. Jinx closed her eyes, trying to hold back the devil-may-care attitude combined with a feral rage that was swelling inside her. Vi was no longer around, and Caitlyn didn't have the means to restrain the raw power that Jinx held within that tiny frame, much less prevent her from introducing the detainee to her guns.

"Aw, looks like I made her mad again. You must think you're pretty cool around here, eh? Blowin' stuff up, ruining the city's image, tormenting the law then getting out of all of it as long as you commit the highest form of hypocrisy? Must be nice to get away from Zaun after Mommy got a dagger in the-" Caitlyn grit her teeth as she saw the rage in Jinx's eyes peak. Jinx was going to murder Katarina right here and Caitlyn would have to arrest her as well. Caitlyn gripped her spare handcuffs as Jinx's upper lip begin to twist into a snarl, but released them as tears began to stream down the girl's pale face.

Not knowing what to do or say, Caitlyn numbly shoved a smirking Katarina and began to lead her to the city jail, leaving Jinx to look around, still crying before heading home. Once there, she went through the case of her personal belongings she'd gotten out of her old residence until she found what she wanted; a picture of her with her family. She'd shown it to Vi, but her sister had not remembered any of it. "It should've been me…" She sobbed, throwing herself onto Vi's bed with the picture in her hands. She closed her eyes as she remembered that horrible night.

"_Jessebelle! Vi! Quick, follow daddy!" A woman in a large cloak that hid her identity said to the two children before her. They stood with a tall man in a dank alleyway, assaulted from above by a torrential downpour. Even now, at her young age the pink-haired girl was rebellious, stubborn and most importantly pugilistic. She grit her teeth in determination and growled._

"_NO! I'm not going to just leave you to-" _

"_Vi, please! There's no time, and there's nothing more you can do. Go, I'll meet back with you at the house," The woman lied. The man gently took Vi by the hand and motioned both sisters to follow, but quickly stopped cold. He fell backward, a dagger stuck in his heart to reveal a woman with long hair, cold eyes and a wicked smile. She held one finger up, then turned to set her sights on the bluenette of the group. The cloaked woman's eyes widened and she cried out as the assassin drew another blade, leaping out just in time to take the thrown weapon in the forehead. Jessebelle screamed and ran to her mother's side, but she was already dead. _

_The attacker held up a second finger, then let out a grunt of pain as Vi slammed a fist into the small of her back. She lost her balance and fell over, giving Vi the opening to grab her sister's hand and drag her away, sending the both of them running for their lives. The assassin gave chase, lining them up in her sights and pulling out another dagger. Vi chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw what was about to happen; the woman had a shot lined up perfectly at Jessebelle's head. She thought fast as they came to a cliff on the outskirts of the town; the cliff loomed over the waters that lay between Zaun and the rest of the world, and Vi threw both of them over the edge. They both screamed as they fell, and Vi's head hit the side of the cliff as they neared the surface. _

_Jessebelle screamed her sister's name as an unseen current dragged the unconscious girl's body from her, leaving the other alone. She realized that their assailant could not be far behind and went limp, feigning death. Through her nearly-shut eyes she saw the vague shape of the woman looking over the cliff. She spotted Jessebelle's limp form and laughed a cruel, heartless laugh that would haunt the lone girl for the rest of her days before stealing off into the night._

Katarina, the Noxian assassin that had began striking at Zaun citizens had been charged to assassinate her family for some reason. Her mother had sacrificed her chance at life to save her daughter, who had then gone on to become a vagabond whose emotional trauma had turned her near-psychotic. Jinx knew she was pretty twisted; her penchant for destruction, disregard for the law and hyperactive personality came from her sheer will to forget that her early life had ever existed. She envied her sister's amnesia, caused of course by that blow to the head. Jinx had tried to turn into an entirely different person to escape her reality, but now that she'd been reunited with her sister… Jinx never even heard the door open and close, jumping when Vi's voice shoved Katarina's victorious laugh from her mind.

"Jinx…? Jinx, why the hell are you crying? What's wrong? You never cry…" Vi said concernedly, sitting down next to Jinx. She sniffled and swallowed, then burst into fresh tears, explaining what had happened after Vi left with Lux between sobs. By the time Jinx was done telling her the story of their parent's deaths, Vi's eyes were pure fire. She was holding Jinx as she cried into her shoulder, staring dead ahead as mixed feelings stewed in her head. Jinx had told her the story of how their parents had died; now she knew how she'd ended up in Piltover.

Now she was just plain furious, though. Someone had hurt her little sister. They'd made her sister cry. The idea of paying a visit to the Piltover jail and making Katarina beg for death pranced in her head, but she opted to stay and comfort Jinx. When she'd finally stopped crying, she thanked her sister for being with her and decided to get some rest. Vi set Jinx up comfortably in her bed, deciding that she'd sleep on the floor or maybe at Caitlyn's place. But before that, she had a mission to handle. NOW she was going to chat with Katarina.


	6. Late-Night Girl Talk

"Wake your fuckin' ass up," Katarina's eyes snapped open at the brash voice. Taking a moment to remember where she was, she rolled over to see Vi standing in front of her jail cell. She wore her famous gauntlets and an unreadable expression, staring back at the redhead. "You and I need to have a little chit-chat," Vi said. Katarina tilted her head and smirked.

"You're the other sister, aren't you? The one that saved both of you with that little sneak attack? That was quite impressive, especially for how young you were. And now look at you, all grown up and trying to uphold law and order. You here about your baby sis? She broke down far too easily," Katarina added flippantly, twirling her hair.

"Good guess. Caitlyn doesn't know I'm here. She's at home, probably asleep by now. Nowhere near able to save your ass if I decide to come in there and give you what you deserve. With that fact in mind, I want to know: why? What the hell did we do to you? Or Noxus?" Vi asked. Katarina grinned.

"I've trained myself to endure physical torture, little Vi. Your usual 'beat the information out of them' tactic won't work," She told the cop with a smug smile. Vi nodded and smirked. For some reason, the expression made Katarina uneasy. She hadn't been lying; Noxus generals were required to suffer extensive physical and mental tortures to build their resistances. Why did Vi's threat actually… threaten her?

"You know how many people tell me that on a daily basis in your situation? And how many of 'em spill their guts before I get the chance to?" She replied, opening the door and stepping inside. Katarina tensed and jumped off the bed. She was not used to being cornered without her weapons, and wondered how the hell she'd managed to be caught like this in the first place. "Here's how this is gonna go, sweetheart. I ask the questions, you give me the answers. You don't give me the answers, I'll find some unique way to cause _you_ enough pain to break eventually. Now again I'll ask; why? Why did you come after my family?" Vi said, a calm anger collecting in her voice.

Katarina laughed. "Bring it on, Vi," She said with a smirk. Vi shook her head with a "tch!" noise before tossing her gauntlets outside the cell and locking the two of them inside. Katarina's eyes barely had time to widen before Vi struck, grabbing the other woman's neck and forcefully bending her over before pulling her wrists down through her legs and pulling her arms. The torque Vi was able to apply without her gauntlets shocked Katarina as she screamed in pain, her arms nearly popping out of the joints as her upper back was strained to its limits.

"Let's see how long you want to keep this up!" Vi called over the screaming. After about five minutes she let Katarina go, kicking her in the face and sending her sprawling back on her bed. The Noxian breathed heavily, holding her jaw in shock; she hadn't expected such a painful tactic from her interrogator. "I asked you a question!" Vi barked, her face just inches from Katarina's. Katarina considered the possibilities; she had nothing to lose by answering, to her best knowledge. That mission had been scrapped a long time ago. On the other hand, Katarina had a streak of pride that desperately begged her not to give in to Vi's demands.

"Go ask your parents," Katarina said with a grim chuckle. Vi nodded and yanked Katarina to her feet by her throat, throwing her down on the ground. She stomped one foot down on Katarina's splayed-out hair and bent down, again grabbing and pulling on her wrists. Katarina's eyes bulged as the sensations of her wrists being turned in ways they weren't intended to, her fingers being crushed under Vi's rage-induced grip and her hair being yanked to the point of nearly coming out assaulted her mind. After what seemed like an eternity, Vi let go, leaving her victim on the ground. Vi crossed her arms and tapped her foot while Katarina recovered.

And so it went for about an hour. Vi, asking Katarina the same question and torturing Katarina with another submission hold when she didn't answer. By the end of it, Katarina could tell from the pain that two of her fingers were broken and one ankle certainly had to be at least sprained. Having asked YET again, Vi made to go after Katarina again but she put her hands up in surrender.

"FINE! FINE! They didn't even fucking tell me, alright? My higher ups told me to go after anyone in Zaun who was in a position of power and wipe out anyone who could inherit it. Your mother was a Zaun general. That's all I fucking know, I don't ask questions about my assignments and targets you sadistic bitch," Katarina spat. Vi nodded and frowned.

"Now, was that so hard? Like I said: a lot of people say they can't be broken… 'till I get my hands on 'em," Vi called over her shoulder as she took her leave, locking the cell door behind her and collecting her gauntlets. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the figure standing between her and the door out until she'd ran into it. Surprised, she looked up to see very familiar long brown hair and an even more familiar top hat. These adorned an extremely stern facial expression that belonged to her partner.

"So. A little late-night torturing, eh?" Caitlyn asked. Vi shrugged. Caitlyn narrowed her eyes, looked at Katarina's frame limp from the pain she'd just been put through, and looked back at Vi. "You can't just take the law into your own hands and throw it away like garbage to suit your whims, Vi" She said sternly. Vi's lip curled into a snarl and she pointed at the cell.

"She is nothing more that a worthless pile of filth. She killed my parents and ruined my life! And as if that weren't enough, she hurt my little sister! I don't give a flying hot shit about taking the law into my own hands; I AM the law's own hand," Vi replied hotly, flexing her fist. "And as for 'torturing' her? She's tortured me my entire life. An hour or so is fucking measly," She added. Caitlyn sighed impatiently; Vi was in one of her "boneheaded" moods, as she called it. She nearly refused to listen to reason in her current frame of mind.

"Vi, I know that you're going through a lot right now. A lot of emotions are raging inside of-" Vi put a hand up to stop her. She was not about to late Caitlyn's assumptions of how she knew her interfere with her new mission.

"No. My emotions are not raging. As a matter of fact, I feel pretty damn good right now. I'm… well, I'm on the case," She quoted with a grin as she powered up her gauntlets. Caitlyn quirked an eyebrow. She did not like that grin; it never signaled anything good.

"What case" The sheriff queried warily. Vi gave a barking laugh as she looked at Katarina. The look she gave the Noxian sent a chill down Caitlyn's back. Vi's eyes projected hatred, cold anger and an ill-gained satisfaction on Katarina's still unmoving form.

"The case of my parent's murders. I'm going to find whoever made that order. I'm going to find out exactly why that order was made. And I'm going to find out exactly why the hell Noxus felt like taking out Zaun residents. Their problem is with Demacia, not them. And when I find the person who destroyed my childhood…" She let the threat hang in the air like a strung-up criminal. Caitlyn nodded.

"And where exactly are we planning on starting?" She asked. Vi's mouth fell open, shocked. There was no way Caitlyn knew what she was saying. Caitlyn had seen Vi's work; her results were almost always excessively damaging due to her brash nature. Vi had once cockily told her "Hey, it worked right?"

"You mean… you'd help me? You know how I work, Caitlyn. Nothing about this is going to be 'by the book'. I don't think-" Vi stopped as Caitlyn picked up an invisible book and looked at for a moment before making a tossing motion with a small smile. For a moment, the two women just stared, caught in a moment where each was attempting to read the face of the other. After a good half minute, Vi finally lost the starting contest.

For the second time in the last five, maybe even six years that Vi could remember, she choked up. "…Thank you," She managed out, fighting the tears. Caitlyn rolled her eyes. It was so typical of Vi to not want to show weakness. She closed the distance between them and took Vi into a gentle hug. The act of caring sent Vi over the edge, and Caitlyn's smile widened as she felt a warm, wet feeling on her sleeve again.

A few minutes later, they parted and began to leave, stopping when they heard Katarina groan. "Your officer just illegally tortured a prisoner and you're doing nothing?" She complained. Vi snorted.

"Go suck your daddy's-" Caitlyn smacked her on the hand before she finished her sentence as they exited the jail, causing a grin to spread over Vi's face. She turned around and eyed Katarina as she slowly recovered from her torture, shakily getting to her feet and panting. "Be a good little girl and stay put, bitch," Vi sneered as she slammed the door and engaged the lock.


	7. Recruiting The Living Ward

"Again, I ask; where in the name of Piltover's badges are we going?" Caitlyn asked from the passenger seat of the town's police cruiser. In the back was Jinx, just had Vi had always imagined, albeit not under these circumstances. Vi grinned and gunned the engine. It was the morning after the torture incident, and Jinx had been briefed before the three-woman strong force had piled into the cruiser and headed off. Vi knew where she was going, but she'd failed to tell the others just yet despite having been on the road for about three hours.

"The best person to ask about a master assassin is a master spy," She replied cryptically. Caitlyn frowned as her partner swerved around her question as well as a sharp turn. "Think small, Cait, think small," She added with a laugh. Caitlyn cocked her head. Think small? A small town? A small group of spies? A-

"TEEMO!" Vi about wrecked the car as Jinx put two and two together with a squeal, jarring Caitlyn from her deductive musings. "I love Teemo! And Ziggs. Ziggs is probably my fave, we're biffies. The explosions… ah, what a sight," Jinx said dreamily. Caitlyn turned to Vi and once again wondered if she hadn't experienced a moment of insanity when she'd let Jinx on the police force. Vi nodded.

"Yup. Bandle City, dead ahead. We're gonna go have us a nice chat with that fuzzy little teddy bear. Y'know, the very deadly one that's world-renowned for his recon abilities," She explained as she passed a sign indicating the aforementioned city. Parking just outside city limits, the three women took a second to stretch after the long car ride before entering the diminutive city. Not immediately seeing Teemo, Vi stopped a nearby yordle.

"Hey! You got any idea where Teemo might be at?" She asked. The little one tilted her head in thought. After a moment, she eyeballed the women, decided they were no one to be feared or distrusted and nodded.

"Either at his home, at the army base or," she added with a giggle, "Tristana's place."

"Thanks. Care to point us in the right direction? We aren't exactly locals," Vi added. The yordle nodded with a pleasant smile and pointed behind her..

"That road there'll lead you to the base. Kind of hard to miss, it's on your right though. You take a left from there and Teemo's house ain't too far off. Tristana's is about three doors down from it," She finished. Vi nodded, thanked the yordle again and began down the road with the others in tow.

"We check the houses first. The army base is going to take a bit to look through, and I don't want to interrupt him in the middle of training or whatever. Come on," Vi said as the others caught up. It wasn't too far a walk, as the city size was made with the small creatures in mind. Soon, they were at Teemo's door, and they could already see Tristana's house. Vi's fist rapped on the door several times with no answer, so the trio headed for Tristana's, stopping cold when voices floated towards them.

"Trist, for the hundreth thousandth time, you look _fine_," Teemo said in exasperation. Sometimes his girlfriend could be so _picky _about her clothes… Tristana frowned and looked between the outfit hanging up on her mirror and down at what she was wearing. Her current outfit was more casual than her usual combat-ready wear, consisting of a baby-blue miniskirt, a matching shirt and white sneakers.

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that? Be honest, Teemy-poo. I think the blue melds with my skin too much…" Tristana replied. Vi's mouth was split into a grin outside and Jinx was having a hard time keeping her laughter down. Caitlyn rolled her eyes, made a face and knocked. "Sweetie, can you get that?" Tristana asked.

"Hello, can I- oh!" Teemo stopped at the sight of Piltover's finest at his door… as well as the figure behind them. "Is there something I can help you with, officers? Need me to stun the suspect?" He asked, fishing out his blowgun. He'd heard of this demon known as Jinx before and knew that the quicker she was subdued, the better. Vi held up a hand just in time to stop the tiny furball from turning her sister into a pincushion.

"She's with us now," Teemo nearly fell over in shock. "Yeah. She's my sister to be exact," Teemo actually DID fall over in shock. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he picked himself back up. "We have a few questions that only the finest spy in Runeterra could answer," Vi said. Teemo's chest puffed up notably at this compliment, causing Tristana to roll her eyes from the other room. He was such a sucker for a little sweet-talking…

"Well… I suppose I could divulge a few things, provided they're not confidential," Teemo said slowly. Vi nodded and her face became a stone mask. No need to show Teemo how close the subject was to her nor was there any sense in working herself into a rage. She'd found herself angering every time she even thought about what had happened to her, much less talking to someone else.

"The Noxians attacked Zaun about 20 years ago. They began taking out military citizens for no apparent reason. What do you know about it?" She asked a little more roughly than she'd meant. Teemo frowned and thought hard about any Noxus recon he'd done that long ago. After a moment of concentration, he tilted his head.

"I believe that I did indeed undertake a mission in that particular situation. I remember infiltrating Noxian military compounds, no easy feat mind you, to obtain intelligence on their intentions for Zaun," He began. Vi nodded for him to continue. "They wanted to provoke Demacia. They wanted to start a war, using a full-tilt assault on Zaun to anger Demacia enough to fight for Zaun's fate," He said.

"But Noxus being Noxus, they figured they might as well soften up Zaun first and started sending assassins to take out some of the top military captains," Tristana added, emerging from her room to stand aside Teemo. "They were going to actually take hold of Zaun, but Demacia got there in time."

"Sounds about right… thank you," Jinx said. Teemo cocked his head and frowned.

"You sound… hateful. Why do you wish to know this, anyway?" He asked in curiosity. Jinx closed her eyes and bit her lip, willing away the memory dredging inside her again. Vi put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in tight, causing confusion between the yordles. Teemo stepped forward and hugged Vi's leg, a yordle's version of placing a hand on someone's shoulder for humans.

"Katarina… you know her, right?" Vi asked. Teemo nodded fervently; Katarina had been the focus of several missions he'd undergone. "She killed my parents. _Our _parents. I want to know who gave the order. Katarina's a Noxian general, so whoever ordered this assassination was pretty high up on the chain. And when I get my hands on them…" Vi let the threat hang as she released Jinx. Teemo nodded solemnly.

"Teemo… You know I can't resist it," Tristana spoke up. Teemo furrowed his small eyebrows. "Come on, Teemy. These girls need some closure. You're not going to help?" She asked. Teemo narrowed his eyes and his girlfriend grinned, daring him, provoking him with those damned _sexy _eyes of hers..

"If by 'closure' you mean revenge, then you're right. But I don't know… I haven't done recon work in some time. I might not be ready for another mission with such short notice," He said concernedly. Vi nodded with a small smile and turned around toward the cruiser. She'd half-expected Teemo to be wary of her "mission." She hadn't expected Tristana's presence, but the more the merrier. Vi's smile turned into a smirk when her back was turned.

"Come on guys. He's right. He's not the ass-kicking spy he used to be. Wouldn't want to put him in trouble after all he's gone through now that he's gotten old and soft," She said. Tristana grinned as she followed Vi, shaking her head and waiting for the inevitable. If there was one sure way to piss Teemo off, it was to question his skills.

"Soft?!" Teemo nearly yelled. "I'll have you know I'm still in as good a shape as I've ever been! There's not a spy in the world that can do better work! Come on, I'll show you!" He said, running to the car and hopping in with his arms crossed. As Vi started the vehicle and everyone piled in, Teemo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "I've just been the victim of reverse psychology," He realized aloud. Vi burst out laughing and Caitlyn couldn't suppress a smile.

Tristana snorted as she settled in between him and Jinx in the back seat. "You are SUCH a sucker for words," She said with a grin. Teemo sighed. What had he signed himself up for?


	8. The Invasion of Demacia

A word from the author:

I didn't expect people to favorite/follow this within the day of it being published. I thank those who have done so and those who wrote reviews, as well as those who follow and review in the future.

That said, I should note that right now I am actually separating a 64-page document out into chapters right now to post on here. This is going to be a fairly long story and I hope you guys like it enough to stay along for the ride. Thanks again.

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"Alright, we have a motive. Now what?" Caitlyn asked over the roar of the engine as Vi gunned it yet again. Vi grinned. This was the first really fun part of the mission. Caitlyn took one look at that expression and grimaced, bracing herself. "Alright, what kind of insane plot are you thinking?" She asked. They'd been on the road another good hour and Caitlyn was getting impatient.

"We need a guerilla army. One that has a good reason to help up knock some Noxian heads. And where better to go for both?" Vi asked as the city of Demacia loomed in the horizon. Caitlyn sighed. Vi was so headstrong sometimes… it would be nightfall by the time they reached the city, and Demacia did not simply take walk-in meetings with outsiders. Jarvan IV or Garen were to be contacted well in advance. She voiced these concerns, and Vi smirked.

"Since when do Jinx and I care about how we walk in? Or pre-planning?" She said far too jovially, looking back at her sister. Jinx laughed and eyed Fishbones. In her mind and eyes, Fishbones looked worried. She grinned; this was gonna be fun.

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"Garen, it was one attempt. You don't have to follow me around like a watchdog," Lux complained. Ever since she'd returned home, Garen had taken it upon himself to not let his little sister out of his sight. He'd always been overprotective of the girl, and the attempt on Lux's life had put him into overdrive. Even as they walked through the halls of Jarvan's fortified and heavily guarded castle Garen's eyes scanned constantly for threats. He sighed at his sister's remark.

"Luxanna… If I were to lose you, I don't know what I'd do. You have to understand…" He said. Lux gave him a hug and smiled. She looked up at him with bright eyes and a brighter smile

"I do understand, brother. And I appreciate the concern, don't get me wrong. I just don't think it's necessary for you to follow me around everywhere while we're in the safety of the castle," She replied. Garen nodded as they entered Jarvan IV's chambers upon his request. The king noticed the pair and gave them a nod of acknowledgment.

"My king," Garen greeted, bowing just as Lux did.

"Luxanna… you feel that you are no longer being targeted?" Jarvan jumped straight to the point. Lux nodded. "Good. I will let the stealth services know that they are relieved," He said. Lux rounded on Garen in outrage and Garen braced himself.

"Did you know that he had other people following me?" She growled. Garen looked down and nodded. "And yet you still went with me EVERYWHERE and made my social life hell for the past two days?!" She continued. Jarvan sighed.

"Garen was only doing what he felt was best for you, Luxanna," He said sternly. Lux sighed in defeat. A moment later she tilted her head as her ears perked. She'd heard a rather odd noise…

"Is it storming out?" She asked. She knew she'd heard a thunderclap or something in the distance. Garen shook his head and Lux frowned. She had a bad feeling about this…

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"There. The castle," Vi pointed. Caitlyn looked at her partner. They'd spent the last two days on the road traveling to Bandle City and now all the way to Demacia and it was two in the morning. What was Vi thinking? Or, perhaps, what _wasn't _she thinking?

"Yes. The castle. Excellent use of deduction," Caitlyn said dryly. "So what's the plan here, dare I ask?" She cringed inside, fearing the answer. She had good reason to: Vi's on-the-spot planning was rarely a good idea. Vi grinned, scaring Caitlyn even more and putting a smile on Jinx's face. The yordle's leaned forward to hear better, puzzled.

"Oh, the plan is simple. We get into the castle and have a chitchat with Jarvan," Vi said. Caitly narrowed her eyes.

"Demacia's security is heavy around the castle, and their soldiers are very capable. We will not be allowed to simply walk in. We would have to force our… way… in… Vi, no way. We are not storming Castle Demacia, I forbid you," Caitlyn tried to protest as she connected the dots, feeling foolish even as she tried to tell her stronger partner what to do. Vi openly laughed at Caitlyn.

"Damn straight we are. Time waits for no one, and neither do I. Come on," She said. The others moved, but Caitlyn did not. "Cupcake… I told you, nothing about this was going to be by the book or conventional. You knew what we were getting into and you told me you were in," Vi said. Caitlyn pinched her nose as everyone exited the cruiser.

"Vi, you are talking about going in there and forcing your way through waves of Demacian security. And knowing you, you're planning on just punching through all of them as well as anything else that gets in your way?" She asked. Vi smirked. "Think about the consequences here. This would be an international incident that could ruin Piltover's political image," Caitlyn pleaded, despite knowing Vi's utter disregard for political issues.

Vi growled. "I don't give a flying fuck about whatever political collateral we rack up. I won't kill anyone, and neither will anyone else. However, I'm not waiting any longer than necessary to storm Noxus and find the son of a bitch that ruined my life," She said before setting her sights dead on the palace. The group continued their march, and after some hesitation Caitlyn caught up as they came to the outer courtyard gate. Vi cocked her head at an ornamental structure on the gate.

"That's a really pretty design," She remarked. "What a pity." And before Caitlyn or anyone else could react, Vi drew back and launched a massive punch with her right gauntlet at the gate, causing it to fly off its hinges and wrap around a nearby statue of Jarvan IV. Caitlyn rubbed her temples and sighed. Her annoyance turned to fear and her veins were flooded with adrenaline as voices filled the air.

"HALT!" A blue-and-gold clad soldier yelled, leading about 20 others behind him. All of them had swords in hand, were heavily armored and looked ready for a battle. So did the other soldiers that quickly followed; Caitlyn did a quick head count and estimated about 100 soldiers total. "In the name of Demacia you are all-"

"Vi!" Caitlyn yelled as the ex-con jumped forward, slamming the man in the face before he could finish. All hell broke loose, Jinx and Tristana both wielding their guns as they entered the fray. Gritting her teeth, Caitlyn took her father's gun from its sling off her back and aimed down the irons. "Ace in the hole," she muttered before firing, catching a guard that was aiming to stab Jinx in the leg. The soldier fell as the shot found its way through his armor, a bullet lodged into his thigh.

"Whoops! Coming through! Outta the way! Yee haw!" Jinx yelled happily as Pow-Pow felled three guards. She was careful not to kill anyone; she knew that Demacia had powerful healers that would fix them up in a flash. "Come on guys, have some fun, relax! It's called gun_play_!" She said cheerfully as another guard received three bullets to the right arm. He dropped his sword and fell to the ground with a scream.

Jinx grinned and pumped her fist in celebration, but it was cut short by a blow in the back. Jinx groaned, kipped up and realized her enemy to close to her to use her guns. She wasn't the expert hand-to-hand combatant that her sister was, though, and as the guard swung with an armor-plated fist she cringed. When the guard swung wildly to her right and missed entirely, she cocked her head for a second before Teemo appeared out of thin air.

"Blinding toxin?" Jinx guessed. Teemo nodded. "Sweet. "Nighty night," Jinx added to the guard before she hit him over the head with Fishbones.

"Come on! Dead ahead!" Vi shouted. The group moved forward through the swarm of guards, taking out anyone in their way like a force of nature until they came up against a wall.

"We have to find a door, Vi! Let's head this way!" Caitlyn suggested, starting to turn right. Vi grinned and flexed a fist, her gauntlets charging to full power. Caitlyn looked on in confusion. Jinx looked on in excited anticipation. The yordles looked on in disbelief.

"Sometimes, Cait," Vi began. Cocking back both fists, she threw out a double punch that went clean through the wall. "Sometimes, you gotta _make _a door," She finished, stepping over the rubble and into the palace. Caitlyn's mouth was agape even as she followed. With each wall Vi slammed through, Caitlyn's worry grew greater. Demacia would arrest them for the damage before they would lend them soldiers! And then what? They'd-

ZING!

Caitlyn was driven from her thoughts by the sound of a knife taking off a few brunette hairs and sticking into a wall. Vi noticed the knife and spun around to see Katarina withdrawing another blade. "Quick escape, I'm impressed. But there's a saying about me back in Piltover, bitch. You know what it is?" Vi smirked, facing the murderer. Katarina laughed roughly.

"What, that you're the 'Long Arm Of The Law" or some other corny hand or arm-related joke?" She guessed. Vi gave a light chuckle. She had multiple community-given titles of that nature, but there was just one other…

"Nope. Everyone in Piltover, especially the bad guys, know that VI STANDS FOR VIOLENCE!" Vi roared, slamming into the much smaller woman with all her might. As Caitlyn ran to assist her partner, understanding dawned on her; Vi had expected this. She'd _expected _Katarina to break out and she'd expected the assassin to attempt to finish what she'd started. It wasn't impatience that had driven Vi to forcefully break into Castle Demacia, but rather her knowledge of criminals - and criminal psychology.

"Get off!" Katarina grunted, kicking Vi off her. She ran for the door that led to the inner chambers, kicking the door down and running down the corridor it led to. Vi growled and took off in hot pursuit, Jinx dead on her heels firing rapidly whenever a shot lined up. Caitlyn tried to match them, but fell behind alongside the yordles. Not to worry, though, the sounds of Pow-Pow were an easy beacon to follow.

Caitlyn's eyes widened at the sight before her as she flew into the room that Vi had entered. Garen stood over a battered Katarina while Lux cradled Vi. In Vi's ribs and lower leg stuck two of Katarina's knives. Jinx was looming over Katarina, stun gun in her mouth and shaking with rage. "Give me the word, Garen! I'll light her up like a fucking Christmas tree!" She threatened. Katarina's eyes bulged; she knew from previous experience that the bluenette's threat was extremely real, not to mention painful. She struggled to get up, but Garen shoved her back down.

"Jinx! Lower your weapon, she's detained," Caitlyn ordered. Jinx hesitated before holstering the gun. Resisting the urge to shove her foot sideways down Katarina's throat, she ran to her sister. Vi smiled weakly at the sight of Jinx. "Vi, you ok?" Caitlyn asked, kneeling next to Lux. Vi grimaced.

"I've lived worse," She said with a horribly failed attempt at bravado.

"No you haven't," Caitlyn replied bluntly.

"Survived your naggy ass for a year," Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the remark that Vi attempted to hide under her breath. Jinx snorted and Lux unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile. "Aw, crap," Vi said as she realized she'd been heard. Caitlyn pursed her lips but couldn't help the smile in her eyes, partially due to her relief that Vi was well enough to be sarcastic.

"I'll remember that one," She said. Then her eyes snapped to Katarina and quickly to Jarvan, who nodded. Garen didn't need to be given orders to know that he was escorting Katarina to a Demacian prison cell, so he grabbed the assassin by the arm and dragged her out after ensuring that she was unarmed. "We need a doctor, a hospital or something," Caitlyn said. Jarvan shook his head.

"I've got it covered," He said with a smile.


	9. Unleashing The Loose Cannon

Caitlyn looked at Jarvan, silently urging him to continue. "You have healers here?" She asked. Jarvan shook his head.

"None powerful enough to heal those sorts of wounds. I have sent for Soraka of Ionia," He explained. Caitlyn's eyes widened.

"Ionia? That'll take too-" Caitlyn's retort was cut short as the purple-skinned Ionian herself entered the room. "How the fuck?" Everyone in the room sans Soraka stared, wide-eyed at Caitlyn. The Sheriff rarely swore, and _never _dropped the F-bomb.

After a couple minutes of murmuring what was presumably a healing spell, Soraka looked up.

"Such violence… it is interrupting my focus. You," She said, pointing to Jinx, "with due respect, need to leave and calm yourself while I heal your sister," And the Ionian went back to her chanting. Caitlyn took Jinx by the arm and led her out of the room, Jarvan following in her wake. Once outside, Caitlyn turned first to Jarvan.

"I apologize for the… violent way of our entry. Vi wishes to gather an army to help her cause, and she is, as you well know, very brash and impatient. Being here in time to help stop Katarina was… well, I believe Vi knew what she was doing. She was a criminal long enough to know how they think. But the damage caused to get in…" Caitlyn winced.

"The damage is already well under repairs, sheriff. Luxanna has been in danger for some time now, although the reason is unclear. Maybe with you and your partners on the case, you will be able to solve the mystery," He said, a troubled look crossing his features. Caitlyn nodded, then turned to Jinx, who stared back with cold, challenging eyes. It was as if the ex-con was daring her new partner to berate her… the same look at Vi's eyes had displayed when the then-new recruit had acted out in excessive force for the first time.

"Jinx, I'm not going to berate you, if that's what you're expecting. Relax," Caitlyn began. She saw a few blue strands of hair relax and not much else. "However, you must learn to restrain the urges that you and Vi seem to share, the instincts to act without rational but with simple pure emotion," She continued. Jinx's face contorted as her upper lip bent back, revealing startlingly sharp teeth.

"If I hadn't restrained myself, the bitch would be dead," She shot back harshly, spinning her stun gun around on her finger. "As it stands, she may actually stay imprisoned this time. Demacia's pretty big on treating Noxians like dirt," She added with a sideways glance at Jarvan. He shrugged.

"She will be handled. We will question her for information and hopefully have a successful result to report back, officers," Jarvan said simply. And with that, he strode off to catch up with Garen. Caitlyn cocked her head; Jinx's eyes had suddenly gone eerily blank of emotion. Then, slowly and with a frightening sort of sick pleasure a grin spread across her face.

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"Thanks again," Vi said for about the tenth time to Soraka. Vi's wounds had been completely healed after a long night's work for Soraka, and morning had once again risen. The Ionian smiled and bowed wearily.

"May the stars guide you, officers," She said before stepping into the vehicle that had arrived to take her home. Vi bowed as well, an act of respect and submission extremely rare in the brawler. Caitlyn waved a farewell as well, then tilted her head. It occurred to her that she hadn't seen Jinx all morning.

"Vi, do you know where your sister is?" She asked. Vi thought for a second, then raised her eyebrows as the answer came to her.

"Yeah, she mentioned something about Jarvan wanting to talk to her this morning. Something about Katarina, I didn't really have the energy to investigate," She added dryly. Something about that made Caitlyn very uneasy for some reason, and her gut told her to find Jarvan. Caitlyn started for the castle, walking with a brisk, purposeful stride. Vi had to struggle to catch up.

"Where the hell're we going, Cupcake?" She asked. It was unlike Caitlyn to seem so worried for no reason; Caitlyn needed evidence to be concerned. Caitlyn frowned.

"Call it a gut feeling. I feel like we need to find Jarvan," She replied. And so the pair walked through the castle halls, some of which were still under repair asking various people where the king was. When one soldier directed them to the holding sector, Caitlyn's heart sank and her legs somehow began to carry her faster. "Jinx is watching Katarina's interrogation. I just pray she hasn't inserted herself," She told Vi.

"You say you can do better than Garen?" Caitlyn heard Jarvan's voice echo off the walls as they approached Castle Demacia's appointed interrogation area. It was a plain section of the castle, no decorations or otherwise beautiful ornaments like the ones that littered the rest of the castle. In one room stood Jarvan, Jinx and some Demacian soldiers. In a second room, divided by a stone wall with a window in it was Garen and Katarina.

"You're damn right," Jinx replied. And before Caitlyn could cry out in protest, Jinx strode in, half-pushed Garen from the room and slammed the door shut. She turned around and placed something on the opening side of the door. "Tripwire explosive," She explained to a confused Katarina. "No one will be coming in here until I take it off… unless they want to blow us both to hell," She added with a vicious smirk. Katarina's eyes widened and for the first time she felt fear; she was trapped, weaponless and vulnerable with a psychopathic criminal.

"I will give you one chance," Jinx said calmly, again playing around with her stun gun. "You told us that you do not question commands from your higher ups. Surely, though, you must know the identities of the Noxians that play you for their personal bitch?" She spat the last words out like a foul-tasting fruit. Katarina weighed her options. On one hand, she was unsure of how far Jinx would go, or be allowed to go, with Caitlyn on watch. Had Jinx even noticed Piltover's other finest enter the other side of the room? Did she even care? On the other, she knew that revealing military information of such sensitivity could get her a slow, painful death from Noxus for treason. Then again, she may well suffer a similarly painful death if she didn't comply.

"You don't have the guts to go nuts on me in front of them," Katarina challenged, pointing to the window. Jinx whipped around and caught sight of her partners. Her hands balled into fists, fingernails digging trenches into the palms as she strode over to the window. Caitlyn tried speaking, then quickly realized the glass was one-sided; they could hear Jinx, but Jinx couldn't hear them. Jinx lowered her voice to a murmur.

"Caitlyn… I can get it out of her. I know I can. I just have to… scare her. It WILL get physical. I'm going to get brutal. But Vi told you when you signed up for this that the book was non-existent. Give me the word and I swear on my badge that I'll find out who she works for and why they want Lux dead," She muttered.

On the other side, Caitlyn closed her eyes. Jinx was right; she was the one who had thrown the figurative book away. But this was… Jinx was asking her to allow torture. She'd not exactly been happy with Vi when she'd tortured the same woman, but now there was more to it. Luxanna's life was on the line. If this interrogation failed, Lux's life would still be in constant jeopardy. It all came down to trust. Did she trust Jinx to not go too far?

Jinx waited patiently, smiling slightly as Katarina smacked her head on the table trying to work out of her bonds. After a couple minutes, Caitlyn slowly raised her hand with a thumb raised. Jinx grinned and Caitlyn cringed. Then, to Caitlyn's shock and fascination, the grin began to… mutate. Jinx's eyes went wild. The grin grew twisted. Caitlyn's mouth nearly hit the floor; the old Jinx seemed to be back. The wild Jinx. The criminally insane Jinx that had murdered over a hundred people.

Jinx turned back around and walked to Katarina's table, pressing a button on the back that released the Noxian. She immediately leapt to her feet, only to be floored by a foot in the face. Katarina groaned, a noise that quickly turned to a yelp as she found herself staring into the eyes of Fishbones.

"Garen, is that room… protected, somehow? From explosives?" Caitlyn wondered. Garen nodded.

"It is surrounded by a protective barrier that will repel damage from any possible escapees' weapons. No one will harm those walls," He replied. Then he frowned. "Why?" He wondered. Caitlyn let out a sigh of relief; if the room WASN'T shielded, it would soon be without walls.

"Alright Katarina. If you don't want to answer…" Katarina rolled back to her feet as Jinx hefted the weapon high on her shoulder. Aiming through one eye, she fired, aiming just a hair's width shy of Katarina. The assassin gave out a yell and leapt away, the rocket exploding harmlessly into the wall. Jinx grinned the manic grin that Piltover's finest were familiar with.

"Aw come on! Fishbones just wants to play!" Jinx cried gleefully as she fired another shell, again making sure that she didn't hit her target. Katarina leapt the wrong way and bent backwards in the air to avoid being blasted. Miraculously, she landed like a cat on her feet. A sudden pain and impact in her stomach shocked her as Jinx threw aside her weapon and put all her weight into a tackle, carrying her target clear into the far wall.

Katarina moaned as her body was slammed from two opposite directions. Vi's beating had been a friendly tea party compared to this. Jinx grinned her insane grin and threw a leg up, pressuring her foot against Katarina's neck. The Noxian immediately began to claw at her exposed ankle as she choked, but Jinx ignored the mild pain of fingernails digging in to the delicate skin.

"Let's try this again! Who told you kill Lux and why? Not a hard question!" She demanded, increasing the force that was cutting off Katarina's airway. Katarina gasped and choked, her arms trying to wrench Jinx's ankle away. "Oh, my bad. Can't very well talk if you're being choked," Jinx mocked as she let Katarina crumple to the floor. The redhead gasped, recovering and doubled over on her knees. Jinx crouched down and grabbed Katarina's jaw, forcing the two women to meet eye-to-eye.

"Like I…said… I don't ask questions…" Katarina wheezed. Jinx's eyes narrowed. Jinx was a criminal. Not only that, though it had been contained by the presence of her sister and her new start in life she was still fairly psychotic at times. Jinx had remade herself, put together an entire new identity and gone partly insane in the process putting together a masterpiece of the lie that was Jinx as told by Jessebelle. Jinx knew a lie when she saw one. She knew when a liar was still holding back. And Katarina was still hiding something.

"Bull. Shit. Do you want to die?" Jinx asked, snapping out of her "Jinx persona" as she called it and back into a sudden, dire seriousness. Katarina slowly stood up with a weak smile. She was weak. She was beaten. She was defenseless. But she still had one weapon, and she was looking on at Jinx's form of interrogation with baited breath on the other side of the wall.

"You won't kill me," She stated simply. Jinx looked to Caitlyn, who was biting her lip on the other side of the window. Her knuckles were white with flexing, looking on at Katarina's torment nervously. She grimaced as Jinx grinned dangerously and aimed Pow-Pow.

"Nah. I won't kill you. You know they can hear me, right?" She asked. Katarina shrugged. Jinx nodded and sighed, turning around. _Here goes nothing_, She thought as she approached Caitlyn. "Caitlyn, I can't ask you to do this. But sis?" She asked. Vi raised an eyebrow. "You know the research we did. You know where her family is. Go… take care of them," She said with a wink. The blood drained from Katarina's face; Vi would sure as hell do it, and Caitlyn was nowhere near able to stop her. Vi grinned as she understood Jinx's plan and walked out of the room.

"WAIT!" Katarina screamed. Jinx turned around. "…Don't. My little sister… she's too fucking young. Don't…" She pleaded. Cassieopia was one thing; Katarina would not mourn the half-reptile's death much. But no one, or at least so Katarina thought, knew about her 6-year old sister. Jinx snorted.

"Vi and I were young too. You tried to kill us," She replied. Katarina grimaced.

"…Fine. If I talk, you spare my family," Katarina finally ground out. Jinx nodded and looked to Caitlyn, who pulled out a note sheet and a pen. "I am commanded by a Noxian general by the name of Randuin," She began. "Back during the Noxian/Zaun war, I was ordered to take out every military family I could find in Zaun, including the children. I had no qualms about my mission," She said with a smirk.

"Typical Noxian," Jinx commented. Then she leapt forward, knocking Katarina to the ground and gripping Katarina's shoulder muscle tightly with her right hand, digging directly into the flesh and drawing blood with her nails. Katarina screamed as the pain seared her. When Jinx released her grip, Katarina was in tears.

"I asked you what the fuck you wanted with Lux," Jinx hissed. Katarina began to snarl when Jinx raised her hand again. Her eyes widened and Jinx almost lost herself as she relished the look of fear on the woman's face.

"No! Fine! It's not a goddamned assassination! Someone above even Randuin wants her, and I sincerely don't know his name!" Katarina cried. Jinx looked to Caitlyn, who was still writing. Jinx rested her hand on Katarina's other shoulder. She put her face inches from Katarina's.

"Sure that's everything?" She asked, twitching her hand. Katarina's eyes flew to Jinx's hand in panic. She nodded fervently, and her eyes told Jinx that she'd given all she had. "Good girl," She said condescendingly as she went to the door.

"JINX WAIT!" Caitlyn screamed as Jinx pulled on the door. She was going to activate the bomb! Jinx giggled as the door opened, the device on the door making a small "pop" noise as it went off. Caitlyn sighed in relief and exasperation. "A firecracker? Are you serious, Jinx? You scared me half to death! And you, where the hell were you going?" She added as Vi sauntered in.

"She didn't know," Jinx explained as Garen led the worse-for-the-wear Katarina back to her holding cell. "Katarina!" She called, causing Garen to turn with his charge. "I didn't even know you _had _a little sister," She taunted. Katarina's eyes went wide as she realized she'd been tricked. Vi grinned and ruffled her sister's hair.

"Atta girl, Jin-" The bluenette stopped her short and extracted herself from Vi's playful headlock.

"The lie is over," She said. "Jinx… doesn't exist anymore. Jinx was insane, a psychopathic overhaul of a traumatized little girl. This… this is me now. This is your sister, Jessebelle." Vi cocked her head. Somehow, some way the name sounded natural for the girl. The two shared a hug, broken up by Jarvan clearing his throat.

"So. This Randuin character is responsible for placing Lux in danger. Katarina is not the only assassin that Noxus employs… I fear that she may never be safe unless we wage complete war against Noxus," He said. Vi nodded.

"She won't be safe so long as she's here. They know where she is as long as she stays on familiar turf, and they'll figure out how to get around the familiar security. Just like Katarina figured out how to infiltrate this castle," She added. Jarvan nodded and sighed.

"But she has nowhere else to go, no relatives in another land or even allies that would take the risk of Noxus bearing down on them. Maybe Bilgewater…" Vi shook her head and looked around (and down) at the small band that she'd all nodded.

"She can come with us. She'll be in a fighting faction that can take the fight to Noxus without any political bullshit," Vi said. Jarvan furrowed his brow in thought and consideration, weighing the idea.

"And she would be protected by some of the finest in the land. Piltover's deputies, the world's greatest spy and his hotshot of a girlfriend," Jessebelle added. Tristana's cheeks went red at the compliment and Teemo's chest puffed out again. Vi cracked her knuckles, Caitlynn subconsciously patted her rifle and Jessebelle smiled as she hefted Fishbones into its storage area on her back. Jarvan stroked his chin pensively for a moment before nodding.

"So long as Luxanna wishes to join your journey, I see no issue," He said. "Let us find her and-"

"I'm right here," Everyone turned to the doorway to see Lux in her typical semi-armored attire. "I heard what was said… and I agree. I will be best served on this anti-Noxian guerilla army. I'm ready to fight… for Demacia," She added with a smile. Vi stepped forward and clutched the small girl's hand.

"Consider yourself deputized, Luxanna of Demacia," She said. Lux nodded, then frowned.

"We're… gonna need a bigger car," She said, remembering the vehicle this ragtag group had arrived in. "We could just throw the yordles in the trunk though," She teased, earning a look of ire from the shortest of the room. Jarvan sighed, shook his head and smiled.

"We have much larger, better transportation in our possession. You will take one of our military transportation vehicles," He stated with a finality that ended any question. "You will stay overnight while preparations are made, yes?" Vi nodded. One more night's stay wouldn't hurt anything, and it would let everyone rest up from the trials they had endured. "Then it is settled. We will host you in the guest wing of the castle," He said, making a beckoning motion to lead the group on their way.


	10. Road Trip

Editor's note:

I had to edit the previous chapter because I messed up on copy/pasting that excerpt of the full manuscript. I am continuing to write on this story even as I update it, so I apologize if I update this slowly.

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"Do I really have to get up?" Vi complained with her eyes still shut. The bed was far too comfortable to do something so silly as leaving it. Maybe getting Katarina jailed was enough? "Nah," Vi thought aloud as she forced herself up, "I gotta find this other shit too. Jinx, you-" Vi stopped cold; she'd roomed with her sister and caught herself on two things. First, it was Jessebelle, not Jinx. She'd have to get used to that. Second, Jessebelle was not in the room. "Jessie?" Vi called.

"I'm here," Vi turned her attention to the bathroom. Slowly, groggily making her way over to it, she opened the door and nearly fainted in shock. "I can't tell if you like it or hate it," Jessie said with a small smile. Vi opened and closed her mouth like a fish several times, causing her sister to giggle.

"It" was Jessie's new haircut. She'd had the pigtails cut off by Demacian hairdressers early that morning; unlike her sister, Jessie was an early riser. Now her blue hair flowed down a couple inches below her shoulders. "This was how both of us always liked our hair when we were young… Jinx is gone now. I want her erased entirely," She explained.

Vi nodded and ruffled her sister's hair, causing the girl to curse and take the brush in her hand to it again. Vi stood there for a moment contemplating what she would look like with that same hairstyle. _It'd probably get in my face during a fight_, she thought with a grin. "I love it," She told Jessie, putting an arm around her shoulder. Then she laughed. "But you're wrong about something."

Jinx put the brush down and turned to face Vi. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Jinx may have been a lie. The criminal, the lack of concern or empathy for other people, that was all a mask. But somewhere," Vi said, putting a hand on Jinx's chest, "somewhere in there lays the badass that was able to cause so much annihilation. And somehow," She added with a grin, "I feel like we're gonna need that. Jinx was always part of you… she simply took over when you wished to not exist," She said.

"When the hell did you become so sage and deep?" Jessie asked amusedly as she packed up her guns from the bedroom.

"No fuckin' idea. Maybe I was really into that kind of shit before the whole smash-my-memories-in deal," Vi replied with a smirk. Jessie sighed and shook her head, then frowned as a voice filled her head.

_She's right, you know. I'll always be here… you've got your own life to live now, though. Call me when you need me_, Jessie blinked and smiled as she understood. Her mind was telling her to move on… and to not forget what she was capable of. She looked over her shoulder at Fishbones, down to her hip at Pow-Pow and grinned. Oh yeah. She was capable of a lot. "Vi?" She called as her sister opened the door out of the room. Vi turned around. "I think you're right. I think I like the name," She grinned. Vi smirked and laughed. Jinx was back in business.

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"Alright Cupcake, we're ready to roll. And holy shit," Vi added as she joined the others. The curse had been directed at the group's new car, a bus-like vehicle with a turret mounted on top and one that could emerge from the back. Jinx whistled low as she sprinted up; Vi hadn't exactly slowed down to keep pace with her. The whistle brought attention to her, which then turned into stares of shock.

"What, something on my face?" Jinx asked innocently. Caitlyn opened and closed her mouth a few times like Vi, trying to find words to express her… _what?_ She asked herself. Disbelief? Shock? Vague amusement? Wonder? "I wanted a change. My whole life has changed. I didn't want to keep the old image, y'know?" Jinx explained. "But… I think I've gotten used to my old name. Call me what ya want, but I'm still goin' by Jinx," She added with a grin.

"Why am I not surprised? All right, let's get moving. We've got Noxians to hunt. And it looks good," Caitlyn finished, point at Jinx's hair. Jinx just kept grinning and piled into the vehicle. "Who's driving?" Caitlyn wondered as she got in next to her. She hadn't exactly talked to Jarvan about who was driving this rather massive machine. She blanched when Vi came around the front holding the keys. A moan from the back drew the ladies' heads.

"We are so doomed," Teemo said. Tristana had her face in one palm, none-too silently praying for a quick death. Lux quirked an eyebrow and even Jinx looked nervous. Vi rolled her eyes and turned the key, her eyes lighting up to the sound of the engine roaring. "Oh lord," Teemo squeaked again as the pink-haired Vixen revved it up a couple times.

"Thanks Jarvan! We'll bring it back safe!" Vi called as she took off. The Demacian army bid her farewell in the distance as they drove on, meeting the road that led to Noxus. "Oh, be quiet," She added at Caitlyn's muttered "We hope."

Half an hour passed. Some random banter had broken out amongst the passengers and Vi was having a blast piloting the badass "Battle Bus" as she'd dubbed it. But the fun was not to last; Vi looked up in her rearview and saw another large, armored vehicle pulling up behind them. A vehicle that what appeared to be some sort of dark angel was driving.

"Oh, shit. Morgana," Lux muttered, turning in her seat to follow Vi's gaze. Behind her they could clearly identify Katarina's sister, Cassieopia, Talon, Warwick and Draven. Morgana extended her hand out the window and fired a black blast at them, met in midair with a light binding of Lux's own creation. "Looks like the Noxians want their assassin back!" Lux yelled over her shoulder.

Lux grabbed Pow-Pow, marveling at the fact that she was able to lift it and Jinx sidled up next to her with Fishbones aimed at the truck. Caitlyn flanked her other side with her rifle, one eye closed and already taking aim. They all opened fire, causing their pursuers to swerve hard.

Morgana gave the wheel to Cassieopia and jumped from the van, opening her wings and landing with a flare of darkness in front of the three gunners. They leapt back and aimed, but Morgana bound all three of them with her soul shackles. She grinned as black lightning formed around her hands but quickly jumped aside as Vi charged in full-force with her best arms forward. The fallen one growled and leapt at Vi.

"Thanks," Lux said before uttering a very unbefitting curse as Talon and Warwick landed with catlike grace into the fray. Caitlyn fired a point-blank potshot at Morgana, who simply shackled it to the ground and laughed. Caitlyn went to aim again then froze as a thought occurred to her: Vi was by her side. Jinx and Lux were in front of her dueling with the new opponents. She ticked each of them off on her fingers, then looked to Vi. If Vi wasn't driving…

Caitlyn closed her eyes. She questioned the mere thought of looking at the driver's seat. Partially because she knew what she was going to see. "Vi?" She began, eyes still shut. She prayed that she was wrong.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to ask you this very simply and I want a simple answer: Did you, or did you not leave the yordles to drive while we fought?" Caitlyn opened her eyes and cringed. Morgana's eyes also widened and flew to Vi first, then to the aforementioned driver's seat. Vi gave a sheepish grin and bit her lip, which caused Caitlyn to rub her temples before turning around.

Sure enough, Teemo was driving… sort of. The bus jerked in random, harsh directions as he "drove", which consisted of him yelling to Tristana which pedals to hit when and heaving his weight onto the wheel to turn it just in time to avoid complete annihilation. "Are you SERIOUS?!" Morgana practically screamed, completely forgetting the fight. A good thing, too, considering that no one was being able to fight under the current conditions. Lux constantly kept hitting unintentional targets (some poor squirrels, a rabbit and even Jinx) and the armed among them had stopped using their projectiles for fear of hitting a friendly.

"If you fucks hadn't jumped us I wouldn't have had tooooooooo!" Vi shot back, interrupted by another lurch that sent her flying. Behind Morgana she saw Caitlyn and Jinx literally kick their foes off the bus, forcing the enemy truck to screech to a halt lest they hit them. Vi grinned; the odds were stacked against the fallen angel now. She reached out to knock the Morgana out the back of the bus but lost her footing, causing her to stumble past her target. Momentum took over and soon she was teetering on the edge, wheeling her arms wildly to try and stabilize herself.

Jinx screamed as she looked past Morgana at her sister on the brink of death; the enemy convoy would be back up by now, and their discovering her would be the end for the enforcer. She ran to grab her sister's hand, but a sudden right turn sent her crashing face-first into a seat. Jinx moaned as her surroundings faded from view. She slid down the seat unconscious. Caitlyn and Lux were thrown on their backs in the middle aisle while Morgana took to hovering in order to keep her center.

Vi wasn't so lucky. The sudden movement put a guillotine down on her battle of gravity, sending her tumbling from the bus and onto… Vi opened the eyes that were squeezed shut in anticipation to find herself surrounded in a purple field. Morgana had, for some reason, soul shackled her as she took to the sky, reaching down and grabbing the officer by the wrists. Weakened by her last battle, Morgana's soul shackles did not last long, but Morgana had Vi safely on the ground when they faded.

"…Why?" Vi panted, leaning over on one knee and looking at her enemy/savior. Morgana remained silent, attempting to answer the same question in her own mind. "Damn it!" Morgana started as Vi swore. "There's no way we can catch up to the bus… and they can't come back without…fighting… shit," Vi realized as Morgana's vehicle, driven by Talon pulled up. The cloaked man grinned as he stepped out along with his fighting faction.

"So. Vi, hm? At least we can play with one of them. Morgana, shackle her so we can take her back home," He sneered. After a moment of inactivity from Morgana, he cocked his head. "What's wrong with you, winged hellspawn? Detain her!" Morgana bit her lip. Vi was too weak to fight at full power. Her gauntlets had been damaged from Morgana's shackles. She was an easy catch.

"I… don't think it would be wise to take her," Morgana said. Warwick narrowed his eyes. Excuses, reasons and even pleas flew through Morgana's head. Should she simply try to get Vi away from the group? Or…?

"Why not?" He growled. "The bitch nearly killed me. She'll deserve what she gets." Morgana closed her eyes. Something deep down was telling her not to allow Vi to be detained. She balled her hands and black magic crackled down her arms. "What do you think you're doing?!" Warwick roared. Morgana grit her teeth; she'd had just about enough of the dog.

"I think I just had a revelation," She said before binding the wolf. He howled in pain as her darkness surrounded his feet. Talon leapt at the angel, his blades tearing into her wings as she prepared to take off. Morgana screamed but beat her wings anyway, snagging Vi and rolling to avoid another blade thrown. She heard various threats yelled into the night but smiled in satisfaction as she flew.


	11. A Parting Of Ways

"Morgana, your wings can't take much more," Vi groaned after a few minutes. Morgana's blood-streaked wings agreed, and she nodded as they descended into an isolated area occupied only by trees. "Ow," Vi added as they crashed through some branches in a barely-controlled landing. Morgana arched her back in pain as her injured wings slammed into a tree trunk. She turned her head to Vi, who was slowly picking herself up.

"…Sorry," Morgana muttered. Vi shook her head.

"I'm surprised you managed to land us on our feet at all. So let's take stock of the situation: a Noxian vs. Piltover/Demacian guerilla war just broke out, we won, I almost died, you saved me and now everyone involved wants to find us for one reason or another. That sound about right?" Vi summarized. Morgana frowned and nodded. Vi's group would be looking for her, and Morgana's group would be looking to kill the pair of them. She sighed and bit her lip. There was a long journey ahead of them…

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"I swear to God I'll hijack this bus!" Jinx threatened for the fourth time. She'd begged. She'd pleaded. She'd bribed Caitlyn to turn around and go back for her sister. Caitlyn shook her head again.

"Jinx, I don't know whether those Noxians are still on our tails, and we're also probably going to be under fire from every other Noxian and their allies now that we've really pissed them off. I'm diverting our course to a known heavily guarded Noxian holding compound. They aren't stupid, and they'll know to lock Vi up in some heavy-duty chains," She growled. The mere image forming around her own words burned like a furnace inside her even as she spoke and her voice almost began to shake.

"Caitlyn, I know the one you're talking about," Teemo squeaked from his seat. "And to attempt a head-on assault would be pure folly for a group of our size. Even if we were twice our number we wouldn't stand a chance," He warned. Caitlyn nodded pensively.

"Then we sneak in. I would assume that's not the most simple task in the world, but…" Lux shrugged. Jinx nodded. "But then again, look at our assests. You've got a girl that can bend light and turn invisible," She began, gesturing down herself, "a master spy and his girlfriend," she pointed at the yordles, "and a master thief," she finished, looking at Jinx.

"Actually, my forte is blowing shit up," Jinx corrected bluntly. Lux smiled.

"Good. You can make a diversion," She said. As a Demacian, especially a Crownguard, she was quite the tactician in her own right. She'd recently been able to actually beat her brother in simulated wars as commanders of opposing armies. "Teemo, can you remember the layout of the compound?" Lux looked to the fuzzy midget.

"Of course. Reconnaissance requires an excellent memory," He said as if his pride had been questioned. Lux grinned and handed Teemo a pad of paper and a pencil. Teemo quirked an eyebrow.

"I need you to draw me the most detailed map of the place that you can off of that brilliant memory of yours," She explained. Teemo looked down at the materials in his hands and nodded. "Alright. While he's doing that, I need to know exactly what I'm working with in your inventory," She turned to Jinx.

"What are you, commander?" Jinx snapped. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry… I'm just-" The pale girl was obviously stressed on the edge of breaking.

"Don't worry about it," Lux cut her off, patting her on the shoulder. Jinx smiled slightly and began laying her weaponry out on a row of seats. By the time she was done, Lux's eyes were extremely widened. "How the… How do you…"

"Carry it all? Here," Jinx said, offering Fishbones to Lux. She extended her arms doubtfully and took the weapon, her arms nearly falling to the floor under the weight. Lux barely managed to lift it back to chest level and back to Jinx, who flipped an almost invisible switch on the gun. "Now try," She said, laying it on the bus seat. Lux raised an eyebrow. It still maintained the same physical dimensions. Jinx turned her head to hide the mischievous grin that began to spread on her face, displaying it in full to Caitlyn.

Lux hefted on the gun… and fell flat on her butt as the excess force took ahold of her. Her eyes were widened as far as they'd go; it felt like the once-heavy object was light as paper! She picked herself up and tossed it up on her shoulder in typical firing position. "Ok… this is gonna have to be explained," Lux said, tossing it back to Jinx. She rolled her eyes as she laid Fishbones down.

"It's a localized magnetic pole reversal field emitted from within the gun. It creates a sort of… coating, that's a good word for it, that reverses the magnetic pull using a hextech core reactor to…" Jinx smacked her forehead as Lux's eyes glazed over. "It's a small machine that can make heavy stuff light and vice versa," She simplified.

"I didn't take you for the tech type," Caitlyn called over her shoulder. "Guess it runs in the family."

Two hours of planning, driving and Jinx having to be calmed down after going into a rage they arrived well outside of the prison. "Ok… Jeez. They really do have this place locked down," Lux muttered as they peeked out of the woods they'd traversed. Woods that surrounded the compound, as a matter of fact, out in the middle of nowhere. The security was iron-clad; guards in armor with weapons varying from swords to axes to tridents and even the occasional cannoneer could be seen on patrol and automatic cannons could be seen littering the ground and walls.

"Holy shit…" Jinx said. "Who the hell're they locking up in here, demigods?"

"If Vi is considered a demigod, sure," Caitlyn reminded her. Jinx bit her lip. The thought of her sister chained up in a room somewhere in that building galled her. "Still… Teemo, how the hell are we supposed to get in? You'd have to be insane to even try to get into this place."

Jinx laughed as the word "insane" rang in her ears. And continued laughing. She focused deep within herself. Caitlyn was right. It'd take a real nutcase to charge in there and create a diversion big enough for the others to get past. _Come on. It's time to get Jinxed_, she thought. The laugh turned maniacal, her pupils dilated, her face became twisted and she hoisted Fishbones high.

"It's a good thing I'm nuts then," She said. She moved Fishbones' jaws a bit.

"Jinx, this really isn't wise. You should stick with the group and make a plan for-" Caitlyn's eyes widened as she looked over to her fellow officer only to see what she could describe as "the old Jinx."

Jinx stopped talking in her deep Fishbones voice and scoffed. "Plans? Me? You crack me up, Fishbones. Come on!" She yelled before rushing off into the open field, firing three rockets and tossing her trademark Flame Chompers. Caitlyn gasped as the explosion drew heavy fire and guard forces. "J-" Lux slapped a hand on Caitlyn's mouth.

"Come on, go!" She hissed, pushing the taller woman aside and rushing in behind Jinx. Rather than joining the fighting, she ran toward the now-unattended entrance. The yordles quickly followed and, with a brief hesitation Caitlyn brought up the rear. _Vi, we're coming_, she thought as they entered, praying that none of those massive explosions ringing in the background were announcing Jinx's death.

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_2 hours earlier…_

"I think that should do it. I wouldn't flap it for a little while though," Vi warned. Morgana nodded, testing the makeshift bandage Vi had made for her. On the plus side, it worked for all intents and purposes; the wounds were covered up. However, the bandage had come at the cost of her black dress, the only cloth plentiful enough to make said bandage. Not that it looked _terrible_, but now it was a miniskirt that showed far more skin than Morgana was used to, or comfortable, showing.

"Let's hope. Your friends… you'll be looking for them, I suppose," Morgana said. It wasn't a question. Vi nodded. "Then I guess you'll go your way and I'll go mine to find my group," She said, trying to rid her voice of the ridiculous emotion that seemed to be invading it. Why was she… hesitant to leave Vi?

"Listen to yourself," Vi said harshly. Well, harshly to Morgana's ears in any case. Vi was just hardened like that when dealing with strangers. "I have friends. You have your 'group' as you call them. There a reason you're with those punks?" She asked. Morgana hesitated before answering.

"I am Noxian. I serve the Noxian cause. I follow the orders of Swain. Noxians have no need for 'friends' or other sentiments that might get endanger their purposes," Morgana replied. Vi narrowed her eyes.

"Swain?" She echoed. "The Noxian general?"

"Of course. He is High Commander, after all."

Vi's lips morphed into a slow, dangerous, feral smile. Morgana had just put a face to the bastard that had left her without a family, without a proper home and without a childhood. She knew who Swain was. The last she'd heard, Swain was below even Katarina on the Noxian food chain. She licked her lips like a lion stalking its prey, causing even the fallen angel to feel a bit… cautious.

"So tell me, Morgana," Vi began. Morgana's eyes narrowed. "How much of that bullshit Noxus ass-kissing did you really believe?" The dark angel began to retort, but stopped. Vi had a point. She didn't believe a fucking word of it. She'd believed all of it before about ten minutes ago. Why the sudden questioning of Noxus?

"What does it matter to you what my beliefs are? You should get moving if you want to find your comrades, before night falls," She replied. Vi growled as she watched Morgana begin to spread her wings on instinct, catch herself before the bandage tore and walk briskly into the black fog of the forest.

"Great. At least I didn't lose ALL of my friends," She muttered to no one as she powered up her gauntlets... then looked on in shock as they powered back down. "Shit. The damn hextech pole reversal must be damaged… Oh well," With that remark, she bashed a tree aside by using her gauntlets as battering rams, revealing a trail in the woods. She grinned at her handiwork as she merged into the pathway, looking both ways before deciding that left was a good direction.


	12. Vi Stands For Violence Against Monkeys

"God damnit," Vi murmured again. Her feet were tired, her arms ached from carrying her gauntlets, she was vaguely hungry and Morgana hadn't had a change of heart like the brawler had hoped for. These factors combined made for one grumpy arm of the law. She checked the watch built into her right gauntlet and groaned; she'd only been walking for an hour! "Focus, Vi. Just keep going. Ain't like you have a damn choice," She reminded herself.

About ten minutes later, the ruffling of tree branches startled Vi. She stopped dead in her tracks and scanned the area. Nothing in front of her… nothing behind her, she noted as she looked over her shoulder. She looked up to see, of all the damnedest people, Wukong flying through the trees. "The hell are you doing swinging around here?" She called up, making the Monkey King nearly fall out of the tree.

"What are YOU doing here? This is within Monkey Kingdom grounds, _Officer_," Wukong huffed. Vi raised an eyebrow. Had she just heard him right?

"The fuck? The Monkey Kingdom? Is your queen green with a penchant for ruby slippers?" She joked. Wukong narrowed his eyes before rolling them. That joke was older than Master Yi, and that was saying a lot.

"You are well aware that I hold the title of Monkey King, young lady. You are unauthorized to be in my territory. State your business," Wukong said haughtily. He didn't like having his authority questioned, much less jested at. Vi sighed. Explaining… yeah, she could explain, sure. There was only one problem with that.

"Sorry fuzzbutt, slipped into my mother tongue for a moment there," Vi said with a smirk as she laid the King out with a well-aimed one-hitter quitter. Caitlyn liked to joke that English was Vi's second language behind her natural Fistese. "Well. There's one pushy jackass out of my way. Now, if I'm on civilized property- well, civilized as monkeys are, anyway, maybe I can threaten them into helping me find-"

"Very mature, Vi," A voice rang out behind her. She spun around to see Master Yi himself standing next to the prone figure of Wukong, sword at his side and arms crossed. "Knocking out my protégé just because he was stopping your progress wasn't the best idea you've ever had," He said.

"Who's gonna make me regret it? You? Isn't your Wu-hula hoop stuff anti-violence or something?" Vi replied, vaguely amused. Yi, however, was dead serious. He shook his head, looked at Wukong and then back to Vi with a disapproving stare.

"Wu-ju, thank you very much, is not anti-violence. It is merely the belief that one takes responsibility for their actions. As such, we try the best we can to always better ourselves and minimize actions that we'd rather NOT account for," Yi corrected her. "Your actions exemplify wu-ju, albeit very poorly," he added. "As for your inquiry, no, I will not strike you. However, I will tell you that you have gone the wrong way. Noxus," He said, pointing behind her with a smug smile, "is that way," Vi cursed.

"You seek transportation," Yi said as Vi turned around and began walking. Vi stopped and turned back, nodding. Yi pointed above and Vi's head followed to see a foreign sight; a brilliant orange dragon flying in the sky. It began to descend, and as Vi leapt out of the way to avoid the massive creature it transformed into a woman who looked upon the three figures from her new perch in a tree.

"Shyvanna?" Vi guessed; she'd heard of this half-dragon before, but never had she seen the woman in person. Shyvanna nodded and leapt down gracefully.

"You want a ride? I saw which way your friends went. They think you're locked up at a maximum-security Noxian prison and I guarantee their rescue mission ain't gonna end well without the whole group," She told the Piltover enforcer. Vi's eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped. "Come up here and get on my back, there's still time," Shyvanna urged.

Vi didn't need telling twice. "Tell Wukong I apologized. That means a lot coming from me," She called down to Master Yi as Shyvanna took off with Vi mounted. Yi followed their trail with his eyes and looked down at Wukong when he no longer saw them. He shook his head; Wukong was not going to be a happy monkey about this.

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"God damnit, I wish I knew where Jinx was," Caitlyn muttered. "For that matter, I wish I knew if the guards were still out," She added. Lux shrugged and put her finger to her lips as they snuck down to the first detention floor. They stopped dead as a guard approached them… and walked past them. Lux strained as she bent light to make the group invisible and Caitlyn took her chance, nailing the Noxian in the chink between his shoulders and head with a shot from the Peacemaker.

"Nice… shooting…" Lux panted. "Don't know how much more of that I can do, though," She added. They went all the way around the first floor, checking each cell, and then repeated the process with the second floor. When they found nothing, they hesitated at the staircase to the third and most secure level.

"Wonder how many goons they got down there," Tristana muttered. Teemo smiled. This was his time to shine.

"Captain Teemo on duty," He piped up before using his ever-useful ability to cloak himself using his special camouflage vest. He carefully snuck down the stairs and frowned as three guards, clad in armor that seemed impenetrable walked by. He ever so carefully followed them, checking all the cells only to see other people, locked up for reasons unknown occupying them. But what he didn't see was Vi.

"Vi… isn't here," Teemo said as he came back up. Then his ears perked. "And we have company from above," he added with a nervous squeak. Lux cursed something foul as she realized the trap they'd been played into. They were dead. No two ways around it. They were absolutely dead. And if all the guards were piling in, as it seemed they were as they watched both staircases, Jinx was dead too.

"Well… as they say in my neck of the woods…" Lux said. She turned, looked at her small army, looked to the larger army of Noxian guards and set her face. "DEMACIA!"

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Shyvanna flew faster than she'd ever thought possible, finally coming upon the prison. Vi gulped. The place looked like a warhead had gone off; scorch marks marred the ground and outer walls, miniguns were sparking and destroyed, and most unsettling was the blood splattered throughout the area. It was a gruesome sight to behold for the airborne women and both of them wore sickened looks; well, as much as a dragon's face could look sickened.

"Holy shit… what happened here?" Vi muttered. Shyvanna returned to human form and sniffed the air. Her nose was extremely sensitive and

"The fighting was recent. I smell gunpowder and iron… blood iron, that is," She said. The pair of them snapped to attention at the sounds of a small scuffle coming from behind a wall, sending them running. The sound of whizzing electricity caught Vi's ear and a grunt from a female voice and a male voice doubled her speed. She turned the corner just in time to duck some friendly fire from Pow-Pow, followed by the sight of one very dead man sliding to the ground and one very manic, bloodied, battered, bruised yet somehow still alive and crazed Jinx.

"What the hell?" Flew the same question from both sisters' mouths. "Wait. If you're here… then… wow. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're safe and it's good to see you. That said…" Jinx marched up to Vi and smacked her upside the head. "We just went into a fuckin' maximum security Noxian prison for nothing!" Jinx sighed as her insane side receded, its job done. " We have to get in there, sis. They went in there looking for you on Hat Lady's hunch," She said as she hurried around to the doors. Vi winced as Jinx's shoes made bloody footprints in the dirt that she sidestepped to avoid.

As she reached the door, she cocked her head. "By the way, how the hell did you fight off Warwick, Talon and the rest of those douchebags by yourself after taking that fall?" Jinx wondered as the three of them burst into the prison. Vi furrowed her brow and looked to the sky.

"I had help. I'll explain later, I feel like something bad is happening in here," She replied, hauling ass for the stairs that led down. Vi stopped cold as a body flew _up _the stairs, followed by a flash of blond hair. The poor guard barely had time to groan in pain before the other person leapt onto him with what appeared to be the man's own sword, lodged it in his jugular, and pulled back off of him with sword in hand.

Vi looked at Shyvanna. Vi looked at Jinx. Both women were having trouble with the sight before them. There stood Lux. Sweet, fair, magical Lux. With a sword her arm's length that seemed painted in red. Her clothes, her usual white dress had been speckled with the same color and it was even in her hair. Vi's jaw dropped to the floor as two more guards leapt at Lux; to say that the girl was good with a blade was an understatement.

Two dead bodies later, Lux looked up. "…You're here. You… are here. Which means you weren't… we just… they knew. They knew we'd expect you to be here and they set a death trap for us," She spat. "The fighting's going on down there, come on," She grabbed Vi by the arm and practically dragged her down the stairs with Jinx and Shyvanna in close tow.

"You can't hit what you can't see!" Teemo taunted as another guard fell to his poison. His glee was cut short as another one guessed correctly and punted the poor yordle across the room into a brick wall. He groaned and slid down it with a thud. Tristana soon joined him, followed by Caitlyn who was sent tumbling before them.

"Sorry ladies, but your sweet demon of a friend isn't here. You've come to die for-" The man that appeared to be the leader of the group, signified by his more elegant armor and weaponry began to taunt. The rest of his sentence never came, as his eyes glazed over and he fell flat on his face.

"Shut the fuck up. Game over," Vi snapped. She'd hefted one of her gauntlets and beat the man over the head with it. Another guard jumped the brawler, followed by that man's head bouncing to the right of Lux's sword and his body to the left. This time five more of the remaining soldiers assaulted the group, only to be turned to a pile of ashes by Shyvanna's flames.

"Anyone else?" Lux asked with a cocky air about her. "Then I suggest you run," She said. And with that, she stuck her hand in Jinx's enchanted pouch of explosives and pulled out several round, silver objects the size of her fist. She threw one of them at the ground and it stuck. Jinx grinned.

"Next time, ask before you go tossing my timed mines around," She said as the group did as Lux instructed, earning an out-of-place kind of smile on Lux's lips. They ran full speed, jumping the stairs of each case two at a time and diving out of the door just in time to hear the first explosive go off. They continued running until they hit the safety of the woods, where they watched explosion after explosion erupt in a chain reaction. Vi couldn't help but laugh at the ex-prisoners as they ran for their lives as the structure tumbled down.

"Oh, no," Lux muttered. Vi turned to look at her.

"What?" Caitlyn asked, alarmed.

"There goes this dress," Lux complained, looking down at the blood that stained the cloth from their battle. Vi let out a low whistle and the others looked at her in a horrified shock.

"Since when are you good with weapons? I mean, you have your light beams and all but-" Vi was silenced by the look on Lux's face.

"I'm the sister of the Might of Demacia. I was raised in a battle-born family. Did you think that I wouldn't be proficient with a blade?" She asked, her tone almost dangerous.

"That was not proficient, sweetheart. That was… slaughter. You took out three guys with one of their own damn swords. That's… skill. A lot of it," Vi said. She would never be able to look at Lux the same way again, that was for sure. She shook her head and smiled. "Anyway, we just blew up a pretty big piece of Noxian real estate. They won't like that. I also found out from Morgana that I'm after that bastard Swain, so my objective is clear. Thank you all," Vi said.

When the officer got into the Demacian vehicle and everyone else had loaded in, she turned back and began the voyage back to its home base. As she drove, she turned in her seat. "I… I'd like to thank you. All of you. You put your lives on the line for my mission, and me. It's appreciated. I've got a target now," She said with a smirk.

Lux raised an eyebrow. "Put? I think you mean putting', Vi," She said. Vi looked in the rearview and saw the blond giving her a small smile. "You don't honestly think that we're leaving you, do you? We nearly died for you once already. They're after me already, so there's no reason for me to duck," She began. "As for the yordles, Noxus knows that they were involved in that attack back there. They're targets just as much as any of us," She said.

Vi bit her lip and turned back around as it started to shake, using a free hand to wipe a tear from her eye. She took several moments to compose herself, then put on her tough face and turned back around. "If you insist on staying… I won't stop you," She said, doing a horrible job of keeping the emotion out of her voice.

"Good. With that settled, where are we going? Back to Demacia?" Jinx asked. Vi shook her head. Caitlyn walked to the front of the bus and tapped her shoulder. Vi looked up and looked at her partner with a quizzical look.

"Let me drive. We need to go back to Piltover and you need some rest," She said. Vi nodded; she was quite tired from the past couple of days between having to heft around the gauntlets that even now Jinx was repairing, the battles and the emotional hurricanes. Vi sat down in a seat and passed out within five minutes.


	13. Fighting With the Wind To Your Back

"Are you sure this is where they'll be?" Two cloaked figures stood in front of a Piltover bar, each with a glass of wine in hand, one slender and one whose upper body seemed disproportionate to the lower. A shock of white hair was barely visible in the shadows of the slender one's hood, and the person inside smiled.

"I'm positive. Demacia is too dangerous for the princess and there's nowhere else they would go to plan their next move. Are you ready to do what needs done?" The figure spoke in a low tone. The other figure's eyes shone from the darkness and moved vertically in confirmation. "Good. They'll be around in a few days…"

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Indeed, it did take three days of driving to get back to Piltover. Lux had taken the wheel of the bus since Piltover's finest had to pick up their own vehicle. But they did all manage their way back to Piltover, finally stopping in front of the police station. As Vi got out of the cruiser she grinned. Ah, home sweet home. The sheer familiarity of the building put joy in her heart and Caitlyn's alike. Jinx hailed the place as a symbol of new beginning and the others were indifferent.

That evening, the group went out to enjoy themselves after a day of unwinding and planning for their next move. Lux and Vi had gotten separated from the others, but they didn't care. They could find Caitlyn and Jinx through the communicators they wore. So it was with ease that a cloaked figure managed to catch the somewhat tipsy pair off guard on their way to another bar.

Tipsy did not equal disabled, though, and despite being backed into an alleyway they were ready for a fight. Lux's hands lit up as did Vi's gauntlets, but the person in front of them held their hands up in peace. Slowly and carefully as to avoid causing either woman to attack, the figure began to remove its hood. White hair spilled from the darkness that shrouded the head of the swordswoman known as Riven as she shook off the cloak, revealing her battle gear.

"Noxian," Lux growled. Her hand went to the hilt of the blade she kept on her hip and Riven rested her hand on her broken sword. The two stared each other down, neither wanting to back down in case the other attacked. Unfortunately, Riven's arm twitched instinctively as Vi moved forward slightly and that was all it took for Lux to strike. Vi watched as if in slow motion as Lux's arm tensed and she drew her blade, slashing at Riven all in the same motion.

Riven had just enough time to parry Lux's harsh blow, sending the pair rolling out onto the street ahead. Vi swore. Apparently Lux was even more trigger-happy than she was when she'd had some alcohol, which really was saying something. Vi ran out into the street and scanned the area, finally stopping when she saw a damaged fire escape. Catching a glimpse of Lux's boot disappearing up and over the roof, Vi fired her gauntlets up and dashed forward, leaping and swinging up. The sight that lay before her upon hitting the roof was entrancing to Vi

Lux and Riven were locked in combat on the rooftops of the business establishments. Lux proved to be a worthy contender to Riven, blocking every attack both physical and runic and firing back with her light binding spells, which in turn Riven dodged with inhuman agility. Lux pressed the attack, pushing Riven to the edge of one roof and surprising Riven with a right hand to the temple.

Riven's head snapped around with the force of the blow, but Riven had enough awareness of her surroundings to perform a neat backflip up to another, taller rooftop. "Stop!" She shouted down. Lux clutched the sword tightly and glared up at her opponent. "I'm not here to fight. Can you leash her or something?" Riven called out to Vi.

"If you aren't here to trade blades, what ARE you doing here?" Vi asked, giving Lux a disapproving look. The light mage sheathed her weapon after some hesitation. Seeing the weapon put away, Riven leapt back across and landed in front of the pair. "Usually I'm the one getting into needless fights…" Vi muttered.

"If you're quite done acting like children…" Riven began indignantly. She looked at Lux. She looked at Lux's hand. Lux's hand that hadn't left the hilt of her sword after she'd sheathed it. Riven crossed her arms and waiting until Lux finally, begrudgingly let it go. "Thank you. I heard about what happened at that prison," She said. Vi smirked.

"Yeah. It was kind of a big deal. Blew the whole place to the ground," She said with a cocky grin. "Then again, Noxus did attack me, nearly kill me then trap my friends in that very place, so yeah… fair trade," Vi added.

"Yes, a very big deal. So big that Noxus actually sought me out after they got word that I still lived after the Ionian war. I was hand-delivered my orders from Cassieopia to find the culprits and bring them in alive as well as free her sister," She said, pursing her lips. "Don't," She added as Lux went for the weapon again.

"Well, from the fact that you haven't taken Lux's head off yet I can garner that you've taken exception to those orders?" Vi said. Lux snorted.

"As if she could," And with that, Lux found that broken sword pressed to her neck. Vi tensed; she didn't think Riven would really kill Lux, but her killer instinct was always ready for a brawl.

"You are obviously inebriated. And a very, very lightweight drinker," Riven stated into Lux's ear. Lux swallowed hard, wondering if she was living her last. After a very terse moment, Riven released her hold, leaving Lux to stumble over to Vi's side. "In any case, Vi is right. Noxus is out of line to order assassinations for a reason that they caused. Not to mention that I'm no assassin myself," Riven added.

"So… what's the whole point here? You got something to say or just a warning?" Vi demanded. She was getting impatient with this white-haired interruption to her night out. Riven sighed and sheathed her sword. Vi was no psychologist, but she could tell that Riven was on the cusp of making a difficult decision for herself. Doubt, lingering pain and anger all danced through the eyes of the Noxian as she stood there silent.

"Noxus is not the army it was when I commanded part of it. All sense of honor, all sense of true pride has gone. All that is left is a withered husk infected with greed, hatred and innocent blood. I want to eradicate that… that _filth _that was once my home. If you'll have me." Riven said finally. Vi opened her mouth, but Riven was not done. "I do, however, need to see… Katarina," She said. Vi narrowed her eyes at the name.

"Why?" She snapped.

"She and I were once close, Vi. I… I know what she has become. And what she is. And how Noxus corrupts. I just… I don't believe that Katarina is beyond the point of redemption," Riven said bitterly. Vi bared her teeth and snarled.

"The bitch killed my family! She killed my childhood! She killed my _life_! And nearly killed my sister! You think for a MOMENT that I would EVER trust that trash?" She roared, subconsciously firing up her gauntlets. She did that when she got emotional from time to time. Riven grit her teeth. She knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"No. The Katarina I know would never… She was not always as she is. Noxus has a way of corrupting young minds developed for hundreds of years now. I have to at least try to-"

"I heard reports of a whole lot of sword fighting and the Enforcer of Piltover giving chase. I didn't expect to see you guys here, though," Jinx said, appearing from seemingly nowhere. Behind her, clambering up onto the roof was Caitlyn. Tristana and Teemo soon followed and the gang was finally assembled before Riven.

"Riven wants to join us. But she also wants to go try and make Katarina a good girl again. Thinks she's got good in her. Like I'd ever trust that trash. If you can fight with us without Katarina, welcome to the group. Otherwise, forget it," Vi said bluntly.

Seeing Vi's sister gave Riven the perfect argument. "Oh? Tell me, was that how you felt when you found out about your sister? Or the split personality? Was your first thought when you realized that your sister was normal deep down to punish her for all the murders she committed during her insanity?" She asked. Vi froze.

"Are you comparing Jessie to Katarina?" She growled dangerously.

"They've both murdered hundreds of people under a mindset corrupted by outside forces. They were both once innocent, dependable and honorable women. Where's the difference, Enforcer?" Riven challenged. Vi opened her mouth to lash out with a razor-sharp retort but came up short. She tried again but once again had no argument. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned to find the object of the current conversation smiling.

"She's got a point, sis. Katarina really is just like me if Riven's telling the truth. And I see no reason to distrust a woman who's been through as much as her," Jinx said, staring at the white-haired warrior with sympathy. Vi looked thoroughly shocked. She closed her eyes, bowed her head and thought for a moment. Could she ever forgive the Noxian assassin? Would Katarina fight for their cause? Would she be _capable _of fighting alongside Katarina? Another hand on her shoulder, this time from her other partner, made her look up.

"This may be the one chance you have at getting some closure. If we can't get to Swain, if you can't get your revenge, this may be the only way for you to let go of this… rage inside of you. Think this through, Cupcake," Caitlyn said sagely with a small smile.

Lux shook her head to clear it; the alcohol was wearing off fast. "Vi… I think you should at least try. I don't like the woman either. She's been after my brother for years. She attempted twice to kidnap me for Noxus' undoubtedly foul intentions. But if there's some chance, some hope… she's amazingly skilled. Noxus is preparing for a war… one that they will free her from that prison for if we don't get there first," She said.

"Second that," Tristana said.

"I can tell you from personal experience that Katarina is far too valuable to an army to simply bypass a chance to recruit her due to personal qualms," Teemo piped up. Vi bit her lip and looked around at her friends, then finally to Riven.

"One chance. And I come with you," She said, holding up one finger. Riven nodded, then drew her sword once more, holding it flat in her hands and offering it to Vi, who took up the broken blade in confusion as Riven knelt down.

"You may sheathe my sword and show your willing trust or kill me with my own blade. This is the Noxian ritual of trust," Riven said, head bowed and neck clearly exposed. Everyone present stared fascinated, before finally the inevitable happened.

"Has anyone ever lost their head in this ritual?" Tristana asked, causing everyone but Riven and Vi to pinch the bridge of their nose.

"All whom I've deemed unworthy to fight by my side," Riven said with a perfectly straight face that curved into a small smile at the look on Tristana's face. "That was a joke," She added. Vi rolled her eyes, turned the broken sword in her hand and held it high over Riven before plunging it down into its home on Riven's belt.


	14. The Broken Mask

"Fuck off," Katarina moaned as Garen rapped on the door to her cell, waking her. He smiled despite himself and took the cell key off of its ring. Katarina leapt to her feet, suspicious and slightly concerned as Garen inserted the key; the last two times she'd had visitors they had tortured her half to death.

"You have visitors," Garen stated as he turned the key. The door swung open and Katarina briefly considered running before coming to the conclusion that Garen's presence would make it nearly impossible disarmed as she was. She settled for narrowing her eyes and waiting.

Shock flooded her eyes and emotions as the last two people Katarina had expected to see entered her cell. Riven and Vi stood there, both unarmed to the further shock of the assassin. "…We thought you dead," Katarina whispered breathlessly. Riven smiled sadly and Vi took a step back: She wanted to let Riven talk. Katarina didn't.

"You never even stopped in fleetingly to let me know you were alive…do you know how long it took me to stop crying on a daily basis over you?" Katarina said, her face a mask of betrayal and rage. "You thought me unimportant enough to just cast behind you like common trash," She accused.

"Katie, it isn't like that," Riven argued. "Singed brought a dishonor of massive proportions to my pride and to Noxus. I would not be affiliated with such filth and as such I left it. Had I returned, I would have risked being captured by the forces that once served me to kill me," She said.

"We were fucking sisters. Just like her and Jinx. Maybe not by blood, but we were still just as close, Riv. I wasn't worth the risk? She would lay her life down in a god damn instant for her sister. Why couldn't you?" Katarina shot back, pointing at the other woman in the room. Vi felt extremely awkward being dragged into the conversation but did her best not to show it.

"Kat… what has become of you, child?" Riven asked as she approached Katarina. "When we last parted you were a young woman full of skill and potential. Why has it wasted away on such fruitless work as assassinations? This is not the Katarina I left behind. This is not the Katarina I entrusted my legacy to," She said as though chiding a small child.

Katarina's head swam with emotions. Shame, anger, sadness and self-loathing suddenly burst forth, sending her into a world of mental anguish as she put the gold-encrusted emerald hanging from her neck into her hand. The sight of the gem combined with the sight of her former mentor triggered memories that had been buried in the back of her mind.

"_I'm sorry, Katie. Noxus has need of my strength now. I have no option," Riven said, crouching down to the 15-year old redhead before her to meet her eye-to-eye._

"…_Promise you'll be back. You have to come back. You… you're the only one that's believed in me. My only true friend," Katarina lamented as tears began to stream down her face. Riven smiled winningly and rummaged around in her pocket for a moment._

"_Katie… this has been in my family for over 100 years. I won't lie to you. I may not come back. You're more intelligent than to think I can promise otherwise. But if I do fall," Katarina began to cry in earnest at those words, "I want you to have this," Riven took Katarina's hand and opened it, placing the heirloom and matching chain in Katarina's tiny hand before curving the girl's fingers around it._

_Katarina stared at the jewel, looked to Riven and ran forward, embracing her best friend fiercely as though it was the last time she would ever see Riven. And Riven was right; it actually might be. Riven patted her young charge on the back and smiled over Katarina's shoulder before gently setting Katarina back down. "Katie… It's time. Make me proud and stay worthy of that," Riven said. And with that, she turned around and disappeared into the Noxian ranks._

"You… never came back. Never came back for me. You survived the war… and left me behind to think you dead. You even severed your own weapon to leave Noxus, to leave me, behind. YOU LEFT ME!" Katarina raged, suddenly leaping at Riven. Vi started to leap forward but checked the action. To Vi's shock, Riven didn't even go to her weapon. She allowed Katarina to tackle her to the ground. Garen saw this and began to enter the cell, but Vi held a hand up.

"I think… I think this needs to happen," Vi told him even as Katarina began to swing at any part of Riven she could find. Garen looked on between Vi and Riven, the latter of whom wasn't even attempting to defend herself. "Katarina… she's more like me than I could have guessed," Vi said both to herself and Garen, thinking out loud. "So much anger from early on. I took it out on criminals. She's taking it out on the person who caused it," She said.

"I WAITED FOR YOU! EVERY DAY! EVERY FUCKING DAY!" Vi was becoming slightly disturbed now at the sight of Katarina showing emotions besides cruelty and sick pleasure. But even as she continued her assault, Vi noticed the blows becoming weaker. Weaker until finally Katarina broke, falling to her knees with her face buried in her arms. Her back heaved in rhythm to the muffled sobs coming from the girl.

Vi was shocked. This wasn't the assassin she'd fought and captured in Piltover and Demacia. This was a broken down little girl in a woman's body. Vi looked at Riven, who smiled and took Katarina by the hands, pulling her gently to her feet. The redhead's bottom lip was quivering and her cheeks were tear-stained. As Riven pulled her friend into an embrace, Katarina was forced to stare into the eyes of the Piltover Enforcer.

Vi did not blink. She did not break the connection. She was staring into the same eyes she'd stared into all those years ago, whether she remembered it or not. She was looking dead in the eye at the woman who had cost her a childhood, a family and her very memory. 

And yet… Somehow, looking at Noxian's top assassin, Katarina seemed to transform before Vi's very eyes. The hardened features of an assassin melted, the eyes warmed like a furnace fighting a wintery night and for the first time in a long time Katarina's usual spine-tingling smirk of a smile became a true expression of happiness.

Garen, standing in the doorway of the cell, was also entranced. For his entire adult life, ever since their first meeting Katarina had wanted nothing less than Garen's head from Demacia. To see that same woman who'd tried to take his life on so many occasions, not to mention attempting to harm his sister, in Riven's arms crying like a child was confounding to the Might of Demacia.

Vi's communicator interrupted the moment between them. Vi looked down at the device oddly and pushed the "accept" button. "Something wrong? We're kind of in the middle of-" Vi held the communicator at arm's length as loud yell rang through it. "What the hell is going on?!" She cried.

"Vi, it's Lux. They're here and they're not happy. We need you," Vi's eyes wondered. Two questions quickly ran through her mind. One, whose communicator did Lux have? And two, WHY did Lux have that communicator? The sound of clanging metal jerked her out of her thoughts.

"Who is where? What the hell're you talking about?" Vi snapped even as she left the cell, grabbing her gauntlets. Garen quickly followed suit, sword in hand. Riven turned to Katarina and held her chin up, deathly serious.

"Katie. You've committed a lot of murders. You have so much to atone for thanks to Noxus. You've got a chance to start here. If you are not with us, you are as you currently stand with Noxus. That means you're against us. Against me. What say you?" Riven asked solemnly. Katarina stared down at the charm around her neck.

"…I made a promise. I will keep that promise," She said finally before rushing out the door. Riven bit her lip; Katarina had made promises to both savory and unsavory people. Her agreements were of pride and violence, life and death. Which contract was Katarina keeping? She shook her head and grabbed her broken blade, hanging it from her waist and rushing from the castle.

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"WAIT!" Vi and Riven were inches from Vi's cruiser en route to Piltover when Katarina's voice rang out. Three heads turned. Three sets of weapons readied. Six ears listened. Tenseness bloomed in the air like a thundercloud. Katarina had managed to break into Demacia's weaponry and retrieve her knives, holding one in each hand. Her focus turned to Garen. Garen's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, as did Riven's.

Vi's gauntlets flared to life, ready to deliver a hex-packed blow to the assassin's mug. All eyes followed the redhead as she walked not to Garen, but to Vi. "If anyone deserves this, it's you," Katarina said, devoid of emotion. Vi cocked an arm back, and then let it hang as Katarina fell to her knees, the knives in her hands offered to the brawler by the handles.

Vi looked to Riven. The Noxian Exile was smiling on her lips and in her eyes. Vi took the handles and gently pulled as to not cut the girl's hands. There was no time to lose; yet Vi still struggled with herself. Vengeance was so close. She could easily destroy her parent's' murderer. She could have revenge. _Or,_ a part of Vi's mind argued, _you could do right by that badge._

Katarina swallowed hard in anticipation. She was thinking similar thoughts. Was she breathing her last? She would surely deserve it. She'd taken Riven's legacy, the gift of honor, knowledge and strength that her mentor had trusted her with and wasted it away on murdering those who were often innocent. She'd allowed herself to be molded, sculpted and twisted. She became so lost in thought that it took Vi tapping her on the shoulder to catch her attention.

Looking down, she saw the two knives back in their homes on the bandolier that wrapped around her body. Her eyes widened. "…I… can't believe…" Katarina stuttered. She had not been shown such empathy since she was… well, since she was fifteen. Vi gave a smile that bordered on a smirk and pulled the Noxian to her feet.

"Get over it on the way. I need the Katarina that can kill five people in as many seconds for… whatever we're going into. Garen, you stay here. If Noxus is making their move, you're needed her in case they split invade," She said as she sat down at the wheel. Katarina barely had time to shut her door before Vi floored it , chewing up the ground and raising startled cries from all present.


	15. Happy Rebirthday!

"Sweet cogs and gears, how long has it been now?" Caitlyn demanded. Lux shrugged and grabbed one of Caitlyn's yordle traps before climbing up high. "You know, you could have asked," the sheriff said in annoyance, her hands on her hips. Lux grinned as she used the trap to clamp a piece of paper to the wooden beam of Piltover's largest bar's roof, then took the hammer that was sitting sideways in her teeth out and tapping the nail between her fingers into it. The bar was under new management for the night, as Gragas merrily mixed drinks in preparation.

"It has been… forty-five minutes now. That looks about even," She said after climbing back down from the ladder and admiring her handiwork. Hung from the newly hammered nail and two others was a banner, white with the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" written in large, pink letters and flanked by a gray fist on each side. "Isn't this a little mean? You know damn well that she thought Jinx dropping that rebar rod was a sword fight," Lux added.

"First off, you're the one that made it sound like we were under attack. 'They're here and they're not happy'?" Caitlyn quoted.

"It's true. We're all here decorating for her party and we're not happy that she forgot her own damn birthday," Jinx called over. "Aim… aaaannddd… FIRE!" She exclaimed cheerfully as she aimed the staple gun in her hand like she was holding Pow-Pow. The staple shot out and pinned not only the other banner they'd made to the other roof beam, but Tristana's sleeve as well.

"Really?" Tristana snapped, gingerly pulling the staple out to avoid ripping her shirt before hanging the remaining streamer in her hands. Jinx bit her cheek, but the laughter burst out anyway. "Oh you think it's funny too? How about the couch for a week then?" Tristana added with a frown at Teemo, who immediately shut up.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. The fact that today was Vi's birthday meant it was the celebration of Vi's anniversary as the Piltover Enforcer. The two had come to an agreement a while back that it was truly was unfair that Vi had no day to celebrate the beginning of her life, so Caitlyn made the point that the day Vi was given her badge was the day her life was… reborn. Vi had agreed and a warm fuzzy moment had occurred, then they'd gone out and gotten a cake.

Twenty minutes later, the sound of screeching tires and an engine in overdrive drew everyone's attention. Beyond the "gang" as Lux, Teemo, Tristana, Jinx and Caitlyn (along with Vi) referred to themselves as, many of Piltover's citizens, including its champions as well as the Ionian Soraka were present, and as Gragas turned the lights out everyone ducked down.

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Vi grit her teeth. Something was terribly wrong. The streets of Piltover were devoid of activity besides the passing of blown dust and cobblestones. No signs of a struggle were present, nor were signs of enemies. The four-strong group burst into the police station to start, busting the door down on accident as Vi yelled for her partners. From there, they proceeded to go through the town methodically. "Okay, what the fuck. Why are all these business doors unlocked if there's no one manning them?" Vi wondered aloud.

"Could have been a sneak attack. Noxians are known for that these days," Riven said, emphasizing the last two words. "They could have infiltrated the town and taken the shopkeeps by stealth."

"For what purpose though? Even if for murder, I mean no offense but none of these shops offer particularly special items. Nothing you can't get or make elsewhere. Maybe Noxus killed them as a sort of warning shot? They could just be pissed that you destroyed one of their best prison camps and took it out on the innocent. Doesn't explain the lack of theft, though," Katarina said grimly as they neared the bar. Vi ground her teeth; the lack of evidence was maddening.

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Every eye in the bar widened at the sound of Katarina's voice. "Seems like Riven got her to come around after all," Caitlyn whispered. Jinx nodded and furrowed an eyebrow.

"Let's just hope it's in earnest. Katarina's a master assassin; I wouldn't put it past her to play off the reformed villain to get a little too close to us," She muttered. Caitlyn nodded and frowned, then looked up as Vi's silhouette was framed in the door.

"Be ready," Caitlyn and Vi both muttered to their respective parties. Riven and Katarina both drew their blades. "SURPRI- HOLY SHIT!" Two blades flying by her ears cut off Jinx. She felt like if she still had her pigtails she would have lost them right there. Vi's group sprang into action. To Vi's adrenaline-fueled mind and eyes the people before her had no identity in the darkness.

A crash was heard as Vi powered her gauntlets and dashed forward, dunking the nearest foe before pounding away on the grounded victim. Blades flashed around Katarina as she performed a deadly waltz around her foe, causing several lacerations before sending her victim to the ground with a rounding kick. Riven was slashing, hut her broken blade was met with a foreign object at every swing regardless of what direction she came at her target from.

A light in the air drew everyone's attention. "STOP!" Lux yelled. Vi looked up from the person she'd been beating and around wildly at the lit room. Looking down, she stared mortified at a rather bruised Janna. Riven's sword was still pushed against Caitlyn's rifle which now sported several new nicks and cuts, as did the sheriff's knuckles. Lux had managed to roll away from Katarina before the Noxian could slit her throat, but Vi could tell from Lux's tattered clothing and cuts that Katarina had gotten the better of the fight.

Vi blinked as she allowed the information to process. "They're here" had not meant enemies. "They're not happy" had not signified a fight. Lux knew that Vi would react as though they signified Piltover under Noxian fire. Vi's lips curled up and she stormed forward, throwing her gauntlets to Riven as the people made way for her to stomp up to Lux and tower over the Lady of Luminescence.

Lux looked up, unable to hide her smile. "Happy birthday," She said with a wave and a wince of pain. Vi developed a raging facial tic below her eye. Her expression didn't budge. She was _pissed_.

"You knew damn well that I would think you guys were in danger. You SERIOUSLY took advantage of the fact that we're pretty much at war with Noxus to surprise me on my birthday?" Vi raged in disbelief. Lux grinned despite her wounds. Soraka began making rounds, healing the injuries that Vi's trio had caused.

"Well… yeah. Not my fault you forgot your own self-given birthday," Lux replied. Vi frowned. Now that she thought about it… yeah, it was actually her "birthday". Regardless, they had used a low tactic to surprise her… Vi finally rolled her eyes and looked at Jinx.

"This plan stinks of you," She accused. Jinx shrugged and whistled innocently as Soraka patched her up. "Yeah. Riven, Kat, this is the bunch you've got to get used to," Vi told them. Riven quirked a brow. And Katarina… Katarina noticed that pretty much every eye in the room was trained on her.

"…Okay, that's getting VERY unsettling," She complained after a moment. The smile on Jinx's face dropped as the reality that Katarina was present set in. Katarina watched tersely as the ex-con approached her, eyeing her, seemingly appraising her. Jinx finally walked around Kataria and turned to face her. Jinx's expression was just as emotionless as any of Katarina's assassin-like faces.

"You trust her?" Jinx asked her sister, not taking her eyes off the redhead. Katarina let out a barking laugh.

"If I was here to kill you, I'd have done it already," She informed the bluenette with a smirk. She looked down and Jinx followed suit, her eyes widening at the pair of blades tickled the exposed skin of her ribs. Quicker than the eye could see Katarina replaced the two knives in their cases on her hips and gave Jinx a smug smile. Jinx smirked back.

"And if you ever _think _about trying it, I've got you first," She retorted. Katarina's eyes moved right to see Jinx's stun gun an inch from her ear. Memories of the last time that same gun had been pointed at her ran through her head, but she remained calm.

"Hey, easy now," Lux said. "Until she proves otherwise, let's just take each other as friends. We need every friend we can get at this point; Ionia has gotten word of Noxian militia resurgence within their ranks. If they've heard correctly, Noxus is ready to make an assault. When and where, we don't know. So for now, while we have time, let's just lay back and celebrate the day the Piltover Enforcer was born," She finished, smiling warmly at Jinx and Katarina.

Jinx finally took her eyes away from Katarina's. Reformed or not, the woman had murdered her parents. "…I'll be back," She said before excusing herself to the restrooms. She felt eyes upon her but paid no mind to them as pushed open the bathroom door and stared into the mirror. She studied her face and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she gasped.

Looking back at her was not her own reflection. The pigtails were back, the insane gleam was present in those familiar pink eyes and the "reflection" was just… different. She knew the difference. She was staring at Jinx, not Jessebelle. "Are you surprised?" Jinx blinked. The mirror didn't.

"…This some kind of magic mirror or something?" Jinx wondered. The mirror's image grinned its devil-may-care grin.

"You know what this is, Jessebelle. You know I'm always here. Always have been. Rather like her, really," The reflection added. To Jinx's shock, Katarina slid into focus next to her reflection. Jinx whirled to the side, but Katarina was not there.

"All of us have darkness within," Jinx spun back at the cold, biting baritone of Katarina's voice. "And all of us have need of it at one time or another. I am still as much a part of the Katarina you see out there. Jinx will always be a part of you. Those that truly suffer are often weakened, overtaken by the darkness. The two of you are so much alike. How can you harbor so much loathing for her?"

"I… She took my life from me!" Jinx stomped her foot down as she yelled. "She took my parents, my sister, my sanity. I'm supposed to forgive her and say live and let live?"

"You might want to tell that to the families of all the people _you_ killed during your time of weakness," Jinx spun once again, this time to the sight of a very real Soraka. "Katarina is going through a time of healing right now. As are you. The way you felt when you first got your badge, when you first saw your sister is the way Katarina feels now," She said gently.

"I… I guess… I never thought of it that way," Jinx admitted. She'd never considered all those that she'd murdered in her crime rampage. Now that images of gravestones, families weeping and children without parents flashed through her mind she fell to her knees. Tears splashed like a light rain to the floor through Jinx's squeezed-shut eyes, forming a puddle of regret and remorse on the floor.


	16. A Shift Of Identity

"She's been in there a while," Caitlyn remarked. Vi had shaken her long absence as perhaps facial touchups or a particularly bad toilet incident. Katarina frowned. She felt Jinx's abnormally long trip to the restroom immediately after the confrontation she'd had with the officer was no coincidence. Something about the way Jinx's eyes had looked, the certain facial muscles that had twitched told Katarina that something was wrong.

"Actually, I can check. You really do rent this stuff," She said with a mild laugh. It still sounded a bit barking, a habit she was trying to break herself of. _You're not a Noxian assassin anymore. That wasn't you_, she reminded herself, trying to further push down the hardened killer within.

"Jinx, are you-" Katarina stopped awkwardly at the sight of Jinx crying her eyes out and Soraka patting her back. Soraka's head turned and cocked at the sight of the Noxian. Katarina bit her lip, thought a moment, and then mouthed "Leave us alone," to the Ionian. Soraka nodded.

"May the stars guide you, child," Soraka murmured as she passed by. Katarina nodded, then crouched down next to Jinx.

"Hey you coming out sometime? People are starting to think you died on the toilet," She tried to lighten the mood. Jinx slowly moved her head until her gaze met Katarina's. Tears were still running from her eyes, but she'd managed to stop sobbing. "Listen… I did a horrible thing to you. The worst thing I could ever do, actually. I cannot truly atone for it. But I can still say-"

"Don't try and console me against something you brought on me, assassin. You may have once been some innocent little girl and turned like I did, but at least my kills were indiscriminate. You knew what you were doing and relished it," Jinx threw away Katarina's hand roughly and pushed past her. Katarina sighed. She'd tried…

The night was not kind to Jinx. The party had lasted a few hours before the rebirthday girl had finally called it a night. Jinx had followed shortly afterward, leaving a somewhat depressed Katarina to be cheered up by the other bar patrons. Jinx had fallen asleep soon after, but the girl's dreams were troubled.

She found herself chained to a wall facing a veritable ocean of people. All of them gazed on her with hatred, scaring her to her soul. She whipped her head left and right and found Katarina in a similar position but with a different crowd glaring at her bound form. Katarina's head was hung down in what Jinx guessed was shame and the Noxian wasn't pulling at her bonds like Jinx was. After a few moments, Katarina shook her head and let out a humored laugh.

"Don't bother. We're here for our own doings," She said, her voice heavy with regret. Jinx cocked her head before understanding hit her. The two crowds were all their victims… Now that Jinx looked, she saw men, women and children alike in the masses. All of them were a picture of sorrow, a sight that tore Jinx's heart apart at the seams. Both crowds advanced and Jinx gulped. "And now we will reap the rewards," Katarina added grimly.

With those words, Jinx shot up out of bed panting. A hand flew to her head and sweat covered it upon contact with the pale skin. The bluenette sighed in relief, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She turned her light on… and screamed. Screamed into a hand muffling her voice. Above her stood Katarina, one hand on Jinx's mouth and the other on the hilt of a knife.

With force unbecoming of her small, wiry frame, Jinx kicked the intruder off and tried to let out another scream. Again Katarina curtailed the noise, this time by knocking the wind out of her with a swift foot to her diaphragm. Jinx wretched but stayed on her feet, leaping across the bed to her nightstand where she kept her stun gun. She grinned as she aimed but Katarina dodged the bolt and bounded over the bed, launching her body weight from her arms to put both boots to Jinx's face.

"Say good night for good, _Officer_," Katarina sneered as she brought her blades to bear on Jinx's face. Jinx screamed again, this time unhindered as the knives came down… then clattered to the floor next to Jinx's left ear as an unseen force launched Katarina across the room and into the far wall.

Jinx made her way to her feet and gaped at the sight. Katarina was struggling in the grip of… Katarina? The new Katarina glanced over at Jinx. "Are you okay?" She asked. Jinx stared, trying to process what she was seeing. Katarina took the lack of blood as a "yes" then turned back to her target, punching her in the eye. "Do it you fucking whore," She growled. The other Katarina spat in her face, then took the split-second opportunity to shove a knife in her attacker's ribs. The new Katarina's eyes widened as she stumbled back before falling over on her back onto Jinx's bed, staining the white cloth with red.

The other Katarina gave a cruel laugh and opened her mouth, but never got a word out. A punch from the injured Katarina sent the former one flying, and as Jinx watched her fall from the second story of Vi's house she gasped. The Katarina that landed on the ground began to change, reforming in shape until…

"LeBlanc," Jinx's eyes widened. She'd heard about the Matron of the Black Rose before. Her shapeshifting had been almost as widely disputed as Jinx's allowance as a competitor by the Institute of War, who had decreed after massive deliberation that LeBlanc was not to use her shapeshifting abilities on the Rift.

The newly identified woman picked herself up with a grimace and snarled, sending her magic chains flying up to catch Katarina. The assassin yelped as she was pulled out the window, hitting the ground hard. Jinx ran to grab Pow-Pow, but when she came back the two women were up and fighting. "Damn!" Jinx swore, unable to get a clear shot. Katarina was her parent's assassin, sure, but right now whether Jinx liked it or not she owed the redhead a life's debt and shooting the woman wasn't exactly a good way to repay it.

"At least when I assassinate people I have the guts to show my face!" Katarina grunted as she slashed at LeBlanc. Her enemy grinned and began to shift again.

"You show your face. I win my fights," She responded simply in Vi's harsh tone as the morph finished. She pulled the knife from Katarina and blood began to stream like a gentle waterfall down the redhead's bare stomach. Jinx clamped a hand to her mouth and dropped Pow-Pow.

Katarina paid the grievous wound little mind. She'd have time to suffer later. Right now she had a battle to fight. "Let's dance… the dance of blades!" She yelled before striking out with her knives. Jinx leapt from the window to follow the two as they fought, rolling as she hit the ground to avoid breaking a leg.

The two women traded blows as they moved from the house, fighting their way into the nature park a couple doors down. Both women's blows became less accurate as their feet slid around in the mud of the woods, a result of the frequent automatic irrigation.

"LeBlanc!" Jinx shouted. LeBlanc looked past Katarina. A mistake. A mistake she realized as Katarina struck a blow with her blade at the woman's neck, instead embedding the knife deep into her shoulder as LeBlanc attempted to dodge. LeBlanc screamed and lashed out, backhanding Katarina to the ground before leaping on her and raining blows on the defenseless girl.

"KATARINA!" Jinx screamed as she ran forward.

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"They went this way," Vi breathed as she and Caitlyn ran to follow in Jinx's tracks. "I have no idea what happened. I heard Jinx scream, Katarina's voice and then Jinx went running and screaming Katarina's name," She added. Caitlyn grit her teeth. Katarina had been lying low, but it seemed she'd made a mistake and underestimated Jinx.

"Since when does Katarina screw up an assassination?" Caitlyn wondered aloud as they followed Jinx's footprints. "And since when does Jinx have… six feet? And in three sizes?" Caitlyn looked down in confusion as they passed footprints not belonging to Jinx or Katarina.

"Better question: How are my fucking bootprints out here if my boots and I have been home all evening?" Vi demanded as she found a print matching her own in the mud.

"KATARINA!" Both women's heads snapped toward the direction of the voice to see Jinx dashing forward. The sight put an extra burst of speed into the sheriff and enforcer's step and they arrived on the battlefield just in time to see Jinx leap forward, only to be thrown backward by…

"What the fuck?!" Vi yelped as she saw a mirror image of herself toss Jinx to the side. The other woman jerked her head in surprise, and in her moment of shock she lost concentration, returning to her natural form. She grinned as she saw Caitlyn.

"Perfect," She said with a laugh, kicking a prone Katarina before transforming into Caitlyn and tackling the sheriff. A brief struggle later, one Caitlyn was standing with her foot over the other, rifle in hand. Vi cocked her fist but hesitated. Which one was she aiming for?

Her question was quickly answered as she pointed the rifle at Jinx. "Ace in the hole," She mocked with a grin before firing. Time seemed to slow for Vi; her fist flew forward, the gun let off a tremendous noise and a flash of light temporarily blinded them all.

"Jinx?" Vi blinked a few times as her vision came back into focus. Under her fist was an unconscious LeBlanc. On the ground next to her was Caitlyn. Several feet away stood Jinx. And Jinx was holding Katarina over her knee, her face a picture of horror. Vi shot a look over to Caitlyn, who nodded and began calling an ambulance as Vi ran over to her sister.

Katarina's face was twisted, contorted in an effort to control the pain that tortured her body emanating from the knife wound and the musket ball that was embedded above her left breast, a result of her blind leap to stop the projectile from scrambling Jinx's brains. The attempt had succeeded, but now Katarina was bleeding profusely in two places.

"…Katarina, help is on the way," Vi assured her. The assassin was too racked with pain to respond, but Jinx let out a held breath. "Caitlyn already called it in. Are you ok?" Vi looked up to Jinx.

"I'm fine. You'd better arrest that bitch right now though, she's slippery," Jinx growled. As the words left her mouth, the sound of handcuffs snapping shut hit her ears as Caitlyn shoved an escaping LeBlanc to the ground and subdued her. Moments later the women heard sirens and Jinx watched helplessly as men loaded her savior onto a stretcher, working what healing magic they could as they loaded her into an ambulance and shot off.


	17. Reconciliation

"You in there?" Jinx was shaken from a deep depression by her sister's voice. They'd been at the nearest Piltover hospital for three hours while Caitlyn arraigned LeBlanc. The sheriff had been surprisingly rough with LeBlanc, mildly surprising the Enforcer. Jinx gave a meager nod. "You… well, you relatively ok?" Vi amended.

"I… don't know. I'm not injured, if that's what you mean," Jinx said. Vi gave hear a clear "cut the shit" look. "I don't know how to feel… She killed our parents. She took my life. But now she's saved it. Does one good deed really make it all up?" She wondered.

"No. It doesn't make up for that. But I think she's proven herself. She could have let the bitch take you. No one would've known. But now she's had a knife in her, which is ironic as fuck by the way, because she saved your bacon even when you gave her the finger," Vi replied. Jinx looked at Vi strangely. "She told me about the bathroom incident. When you shoved her offer for a new start away," The brawler reminded Jinx.

Jinx opened her mouth to reply when a voice interrupted. "Party for Katarina Du Couteau?" A nurse called into the near-silence of the waiting room, her voice wavering at the name itself. Jinx shot up like a bullet and ran over, surprising the nurse. The woman regarded her cautiously, as had everyone else she'd come across in the hospital. All of them recognized her face and knew what she was responsible for.

"You… Miss Du Couteau requests your audience, Jinx," The nurse said, attempting to keep her voice level. She'd lost a grandparent to the psychopathic crime rampage that Jinx had ravaged Piltover with. Jinx heard the sense of loss in her voice and sighed.

"I… I killed someone you knew, didn't I?" She asked hesitantly. The nurse nodded emotionlessly. "I can't apologize enough. All I can say is that I wasn't in my right mind during that time… lead the way," She finished.

The nurse led Jinx about halfway down a hallway before pointing to a room. "She's in here. Please don't touch any of the equipment. And," Jinx's attention turned back to her guide as she opened the door, "It's alright. I've heard the story. I know what you've been through. You poor, poor soul," The nurse smiled sadly.

Jinx shook her head clear and passed through the doorway. On a medical bed lay Katarina, heavily bandaged at the midsection with a heart monitor clamped to her finger and several nodes on her head to monitor her state of consciousness. Jinx closed her eyes and shook her head. "Hey," Her eyes opened back up. "Ain't like I asked the two of you in here just to feel sorry for me," Katarina said with a weak, pained laugh.

Jinx frowned. Two of them? She turned her head to see Vi behind her. "You alright?" Katarina asked, indicating the younger sister. Jinx chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that question. And yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you, that is. I, uhm…" Jinx began. Katarina hid a smirk. This was going to be a scene and a half. "Vi, you think you could kind of…"

"Butt out?" Vi supplied bluntly. Jinx blushed but nodded. "Sure. I'll go update Cait," She said. "Don't be too hard on her, now," She added to Katarina. The assassin could no longer hide the smirk and grinned.

"Yeah… Anyway, I… Well, I guess I should start with thank you," Jinx began. Katarina raised an eyebrow. "And… I'm sorry for last night. At the bar. I was a bitch and you were trying to make a new start and I" The eyebrow continued to rise as Jinx began to babble. Eventually she'd had enough, and she raised a hand to quell Jinx's rambling.

"Alright, I get the point. Y'know… When I first met you, there was a reason I aimed for you first and not Vi," Katarina said. Jinx cocked her head. "I saw myself in you. And I knew that even at that age I was by far the bigger threat of you two. So I guess in a way, I've always respected you," She mused.

"Kat… can I call you that?" Jinx asked. Katarina grimaced as another wave of subdued pain washed over her and nodded. "I don't want to think of our past anymore. It's behind us. You're not the woman you were that night. That much is clear now. But you're right. You are like me… but not on that night," She said.

"Yeah?" Katarina said interestedly.

Yeah. You lost a sister, just like I did. You tossed yourself away to escape the pain, just like I did. And something else took your place. A cold-hearted killer that relished in making others feel the loss that you endured. And what took my place wasn't really much different. But now we're back, both of us. I'm looking at the protégé of Riven and you're looking at the sister of Vi," Jinx explained. Katarina nodded and closed her eyes another wave of pain.

"Then…" She began to slowly move her arm. Jinx began to push it down but Katarina shook her off. She extended the arm within Jinx's reach. "Friends?"

Jinx was silent for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. Disappointment struck Katarina and she began to retract her hand, but Jinx grasped it.

"No, Kat. You and I run deeper than that. We have too much in common and in the light of the battle we're about to wage… No matter where we go, what we do," Katarina's eyes widened as she recognized those words; the words that had made Vi make the familial connection to Jinx. Katarina knew what was coming… and despite everything that both women had done, it felt right.

"We'll always be sisters," Katarina finished. Jinx gave a quiet, silent laugh and nodded. A war was coming, and those who stood against Noxus would have to be a family to survive. And this felt right to her.

"Well… I know Vi wants in here too. I'll let her in and 'butt out'" Jinx said, using midair finger quotations. Katarina grinned as Jinx waved, waiting until she turned her back to twist her face in agony. The pain medications were beginning to wear off.

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"Whoa, you going to make it?" Katarina groaned as Vi took a seat. Beside her was Caitlyn, who shared Vi's sympathetic gaze. The Noxian shook her head vigorously to clear her head.

"I'll live. The meds are starting to lose their touch, that's all. Is that bitch locked up?" Katarina asked. Caitlyn nodded.

"I handed her over to Piltover's maximum security prison. She won't be going anywhere for a while," She said confidently. Katarina smirked.

"You said that about me too," She replied. Vi whistled low as Caitlyn spluttered, trying to find a retort.

"At least your wit's intact. Couldn't say the same for about half the rest of you last night. You, uh… You really left it all out there in that park to save my sister," Vi said. "I never thought I'd be sitting across from you of all people without wanting to kill them, much less being in your debt."

"I'll go see about getting some of that pain relieved," Caitlyn said, realizing that the two needed to be alone. She stepped out and Vi shut the door behind her before turning back with a sigh.

"…Sorry," She finally said with her head hung. Katarina blinked and slowly, gingerly sat up.

"_You're _sorry? For what? I should be apologizing… I destroyed your past and you're apologizing to me?" Katarina was aghast, her pain momentarily forgotten in lieu of her shock. Vi nodded.

"I hurt you pretty bad back in Piltover," She reminded the redhead. Those rather unpleasant memories flashed through Katarina's head as Vi reminded her of that particular torture. "Hurt you and didn't bother to consider you as anything but a worthless piece of trash, blinded by my apparently trademark wild rage. For that, I'm sorry. You… well, _this _you didn't deserve that," She said, gesturing to Katarina.

"True or not, I would've done the same if the roles were reversed, little Vi," Katarina replied, using her newly coined nickname for the Enforcer. Vi rolled her eyes, then took a seat.

"Good to know. How bad is the damage, anyway?" She asked concernedly. Katarina grimaced.

"Well, the potions and spells healed the most of it. I went in her with a couple broken ribs, a sprained ankle, a near-fatal stab wound and a shot to the chest. Right now it's just a few lacerations, some major pain waves as the inside of the two major wounds start to heal and two s-" Katarina tried to stop herself, but it was too late.

"Repeat that last part?" Vi said. Katarina groaned.

"Promise not to breath a word of this to your sister," She said as she shed her top. Vi shook her head as she caught sight of the scar in her gut and above her breast. "I don't want your sister feeling any guiltier than what she already is," She added. Vi nodded.

"…Thank you," She said. And with that, she leaned forward and very gently embraced the woman who was once her parent's killer. Vi opened her mouth to speak again, but her phone interrupted her. She cocked her head, took the device out and accepted the call. "Hello? Mhm… I see. Today is not the best of times. I'm tending to a wounded friend. Can you postpone to tomorrow? OK, thank you," Katarina frowned as Vi hung up.

"The Institute of War wants to meet with me tomorrow," She said. Katarina smirked. "What?"

"Heh. They're going to try and make you settle this dispute on the Fields of Justice in the name of keeping the peace," Katarina informed her. Vi narrowed her eyes. This was not a matter of politics or some other city-to-city issue. This was personal.

"We'll see. Please… just do what the doctors tell you," She said with a laugh. Katarina laughed as well, even through the pain it brought. "Good night," Vi added as she closed the door.


	18. Dropping Out

Fortunately, the Institute had been willing to further postpone their summoning while Katarina recovered. As such, the Noxian was feeling substantially better when she walked up to the doors of the Institute with her friends about two weeks later despite her still-bandaged body.

"Next case!" A man is a business suit ordered. Sarah Fortune, having been granted her match with Demacia for a contested gold mine left the room with a smile. As she walked confidently down the hall, she passed a very odd crew.

"The hell…?" Sarah muttered as Luxanna Crownguard, Caitlyn, Vi, Teemo, Tristana, Jinx and a bandaged Katarina Du Couteau passed her by. She shrugged as the group passed through the doors she'd exited from. She'd seen weirder.

"The matter of Piltover versus Noxus, please." The businessman said. As Vi entered the room, she saw several of Noxus' champions in the room. Warwick and Talon sneered at them, Cassiopeia glared daggers at her sister and Singed grinned at Riven, who snarled back with her hand twitching on her sword's hilt. "Riven, release the weapon please," She growled as she complied and sat down with the others.

"It has come to the attention of the Institute that recently, Piltover took destructive action against Noxian property. Care to explain?" The man asked. Vi bit back the sharp retort and took a breath; her temper would get her nowhere here.

"Noxus ordered Lux to be taken against her will back presumably to the facility we destroyed. We stopped the attempt, mistaking it for assassination and got word from the mouth of their assassin herself of Noxus' intentions," Vi began with a quick glance at Katarina. Katarina responded with a slight nod, indicating that no, she hadn't taken offense.

"So you apprehended the criminal. At that point, you did not come to the Institute. Why? Such an order surely came from a powerful Noxian on a powerful political figure. That is why the League was formed, to settle these disputes," The man chided. Vi's temple twitched.

"Look, Mr…" Vi faltered.

"Endymon."

"Mr. Endymon, this is no political matter. Even if it was, it sure as hell isn't now. This is no problem that the Institute or the League can solve. Noxus is preparing for war, and we are banding together all who would stand to protect Runeterra to defend it. The League will be obliterated by such a Noxian assault," She stated.

"They would not be of such a mind to attack had you not incited such warfare. You struck a blow of massive magnitudes by destroying that fortress. That was a High Council-approved site and was treated as such," Endymon replied haughtily. Vi closed her eyes. Her patience was growing thin.

"This isn't the first time Noxus has ordered military strikes for no reason other than their own personal gain, you know," Katarina spoke. Endymon turned to her. "The reason Vi started looking at Noxus in the first place is because of her past. Jericho Swain ordered the death of her… and Jinx's, for that matter, parents. THAT'S why Vi has an issue. But she ain't the only one. And now, Noxus is ready to make a strike against all of Runeterra," She said.

"So. This is a matter of personal qualms. I see. Vi, as of now I am ordering you, Katarina, Caitlyn, Luxanna and Riven to face off against Talon, Warwick, Singed, Cassiopeia and Jericho Swain." Vi narrowed her eyes.

"All due respect to the Institute, but hell no. This is no city-to-city dispute as the League is designed to settle. This is me getting to the bastard that killed my family. And if Noxus wants to turn that into a war, fine. But the League will not be involved," She said shortly.

"That is not your decision to make, Enforcer," Endymon said hotly. Unfortunately for him, nothing got hotter than Vi's temper, and when it snapped… Vi stormed up and climbed onto the podium, staring the man down. At 5'2, the man was dwarfed by pretty much anyone, and Vi's gauntlets (which she'd worn specifically to look menacing after Katarina's tipoff) weren't helping.

"It was my decision to make the minute Noxus infected _her_," Vi pointed to Katarina, who looked at her feet, "and used her to kill my mother, my father and my entire fucking childhood, _sir_," Vi hissed. Caitlyn bit her lip; the last time she'd seen Vi this mad, she'd wound up taking a convict to the hospital for seven broken bones after the detainee had made a crack about her mother.

Endymon swallowed hard. He couldn't help but be intimidated. However, his job description required him to remain resolute no matter what. "You have no choice in the matter, Vi. None of you do. If you are not here for the match, you will lose and Jericho will have his way," He said. Vi froze.

"His way with what?" Caitlyn asked.

"He wishes to claim ownership of the old hextech mines that lie in the mountains that surround Noxus to the east. Something about research and upgrades, I don't ask questions, Sherrif," Endymon huffed. Vi's gauntlet-laden hand clenched. That was the mine Caitlyn had deputized her at. The same mine the Alley Rats had been on that day, looking into rumors of highly advanced hextech weaponry, only to accidentally cause an explosion that destroyed half the mine.

"…I'm out," Vi said. Endymon cocked his head.

"Out? You can't just leave in the middle of a procee-"

"I'm _out_. Of the League," Endymon gasped at that statement. "This is one fight that I cannot afford rules for. You can shove your precious League of Legends," Vi clarified. And with that, she walked to the door. She pushed it open, then turned around to look at all present in the room.

"…I'll follow," Lux said after a moment of thought.

"No matter where we go, we'll always be sisters," Jinx declared, standing to her feet.

"I thought it was 'No matter what we do'?" Katarina asked with a smile as she joined them.

"It's both, actually," Caitlyn said as she put an arm on Vi's shoulder while remembering the "contract" Vi had shown her.

"Noxus is preparing to strike on a level far beyond what the League can deal with. I will not be in the League when it falls," Riven stated.

"And we concur," Tristana said, speaking for both yordles as they skipped to their group. Endymon's jaw was on the floor. He was looking at some of the strongest representatives from Piltover, Demacia, Bandle and, well, whatever Riven stood for these days. And they were losing all of them? Impossible!

"If you leave, there's no coming b-" Endymon blinked as the door shut on his threat. Well then. That answered the question of whether they were serious or not. He turned to Talon. "Inform Jericho that the mine is his to take," He said. Talon grinned menacingly and nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We just did that, didn't we?" Jinx said as they group walked down the hall to the exit. We just flat-out told the League of Legends to go fuck itself." Vi grinned devilishly.

"Hell yeah we did. The hell with them if they think they can stick this shit into Summoner's Rift and have it be truly resolved. Fuck that shit," She said. Caitlyn sighed and shook her head.

"That mouth of yours, Vi… one of these days, I'm going to get some soap, I swear it," She said with a smile. Lux opened her mouth to weigh in on the matter, but a throat being cleared cut her off.

"Sorry to interrupt you ladies and… uhm, gentlemen?" Sarah Fortune added, looking down at Teemo. The yordle pursed his lips. "Anyway… I was just coming out from my own hearing and couldn't _help _but accidentally overhear some of-"

"In other words, you were eavesdropping," Riven cut in.

Sarah smirked. "A pirate like myself? I'd never," She said with a careless grin that clearly said otherwise. "Aaaaanyway… I hear you got a problem with ol' Jerry Swain, eh?" She said. Vi's face was plenty enough answer. "Well… Bilgewater's been offered a pretty good price to help his and the rest of Noxus out for their 'military precautions'," She said.

"Excuse me? Have you been offered a share?" Caitlyn asked sharply. Sarah smirked again and a taunting gleam shone in her eyes. And so it was that for the first time in her life, _Caitlyn _lost her temper where Vi didn't.

She swung her rifle around, butt facing the pirate and pinned Sarah to the wall with her gun by the neck. "Do not toy with us, pirate," Caitlyn warned. The redhead's eyes widened as Caitlyn let her go. "I asked you a question," The sheriff added.

"I've not been offered anything yet," Sarah said, annoyed. "However… We pirates are pretty friendly with Noxus. We know our way around the city… and their waters… and maybe, just maybe depending on how much gold I see, maybe I know a covert way into those mines. Then again, my memory does tend to get so very short…" She teased.

"Can I torture her? _She'd _deserve it," Jinx growled, twirling her stun gun. Miss Fortune rested a hand on Awe, her right-hand pistol. She stared down her blue-haired opponent, unaware of the real threat behind her.

"Broken or not, my blade is more than enough to take some hairs off," Riven whispered in her ear. She had Sarah's prized red hair in one hand and her sword resting on the roots in her other. Sarah gulped. Would Riven really tarnish the pirate's beautiful hair? Riven made a slight sawing motion and Sarah cried out as if in pain as she saw several red strands hit the floor.

"W-wait!" She yelped in panic. Riven stopped and looked to Caitlyn, who held a hand up to stop her. "Listen, Noxus may say it's simply working on new technology, but I'm a little to smart to believe that B.S. Gangplank and most of the other pirates out there are too blinded by the glare shining off of the gold they think they'll be paid," Sarah added in disgust.

"So you know Bilgewater is planning to help Noxus build their war machines whether they know it or not," Vi translated. Sarah nodded as best she could with her hair still clenched in Riven's hand. "Well, one smart pirate is better than none. We need your support, but we don't do bribes. If you help us, you're on Noxus' shit list and we consider you one of us. We shouldn't have to pay you off for you to make your decision," Vi finished with a soul-piercing stare at the pirate.

Sarah was silent for a moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt like someone was actually extending their friendship- nay, their family ties to her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a "friend" whose hand hadn't been in her funds first. And with her mother gone… She closed her eyes and just managed to catch the tears that threatened to ruin her pirate image.

Vi however was not fooled. She recognized that face, that expression. It was the same look that Caitlyn had been faced with the day they met. Vi knew what it was like to live in a world without a family for guidance. She stepped forward, gently removed Riven's grip with one hand and drew Sarah in close with the other. "Fuck," Vi grinned as she heard the redhead's muffled obscenity, a result of Vi cracking the girl's image.

A few minutes later, Sarah wiped her eyes dry and noticed everyone looking at her expectantly. "…My ship is docked not far from here," She said. Vi grinned, but Sarah held up a hand. "Two conditions," She said. Vi rose an eyebrow.

"I'm listening," She said.

"One, I am the captain of my ship. If I give you an order in regards to anything pertaining to it, I expect it to be followed," She said. Vi nodded. "And two, anyone gets seasick on my ship's floors goes overboard," Sarah grinned good-naturedly.

"Fair enough. Lead on," Caitlyn said with a laugh.


	19. Digging Down Deep

"I'd be awestruck by the beauty of this place if we weren't having to go to war," Vi sighed as Miss Fortune's ship made its way through a canal snaking through the mines that rose up as if in defense of their destined mines. The mountains themselves were intimidating enough, rising from the ground and making Vi feel like an ant. She didn't like this for more than one reason; she was used to feeling like the top dog with the biggest weapons and liked having that status despite her past.

"With luck, they won't remember this shortcut and we can scout the place without them even knowing we're here," Lux said with a smile, putting a hand on Vi's shoulder. Vi shrugged. She'd learned to not hope for the best situation.

"Doesn't look like they care much about it," Jinx commented, pointing to the clearly untouched and aged trees, mountainsides and browning grasses. Sarah nodded and smiled as she took in the scent of pure nature. It was a beautiful smell in contrast to the usual odor of salt water and bar tables.

"Yeah, this place doesn't see a lot of traffic. Hm… looks like we're about an hour off from the mines from here," She said, twirling Shock on her finger. "Whoa!" She yelped as something hit the ship, causing her to slip and fire a round into the air. Vi rushed to the edge of the ship and looked over.

"You hit a rock," She informed the pirate, hand on her forehead. Sarah bit her lip and chuckled.

"Oops. Sorry," She apologized, taking the wheel again. No one felt the eyes that followed them from the darkness of the tree shadows as they rode a gentle wave around a corner.

The owner of the eyes sighed and looked skyward, tracing Miss Fortune's misfired musket shot as it hit the water with a splash. "I don't even… ugh," The figure groaned as she picked out a small communicator. "Yeah, they just passed the final corner. Take 'em out fast," it said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, the guerilla group docked in front of what initially seemed to be a simple mountainside. On closer inspection, they saw several metal bars covering a steel door. Clearly this was a door not meant to be opened. Vi grinned.

"Hm. Looks like the entrance is closed," She said, faking disappointment. Then she cocked back and slammed her gauntlets into and through both obstacles, grinning at the resulting pile of rubble that scattered into the previously forbidden cavern.

"It's open," Lux said with vague amusement as the group entered the cave. The inside of the mines consisted of a series of natural pathways and manmade bridges that all seemed to float above what could only be defined as an abyss below. "Well, either they thought it was too dangerous to dig down here or they just closed the mine after the Alley Rat incident," Lux observed as she pointed to the veins of silver and gold that ran through parts of the walls and ceiling.

"Maybe both," Teemo replied as they crossed a metal bridge and made their way deeper into the mines. Several abandoned mining druids sat about, deactivated and serving only as a reminder of the work once done. Vi smiled as she saw the arms on them and flexed the gauntlets that were once one and the same.

"So this was Vi 1.0, huh?" Sarah asked as she inspected one of the droids. She looked at the arms interestedly and at the same time accidentally bumped the machine with her curvy hips. "Apples and fuckin' oranges!" She yelped in surprise as it came to life briefly before being blown to bits by Shock and Awe.

Everyone stared at her. "…Sorry. Must've flipped the 'on' switch," She said with a sheepish grin. Riven raised an eyebrow.

"Apples and oranges?" She quoted uncertainly. Sarah shrugged.

"It's either that or obscenities, and Vi spouts off plenty of those on an hourly basis for both of us," She replied with a grin. "Wait… I think this might be the rumored hextech mining area," She said, pointing to another metal door set into the natural rock walls of the mines ahead.

"Why else would they lock it up with a security keycode?" Teemo asked as they approached the door, jumping up on Tristana's shoulders and pointing to the keypad beside the door. The blue yordle huffed in annoyance and dumped her boyfriend back down, causing Vi to laugh out loud.

"Well, looks like another job for- whoa!" Vi's eyes widened as a blade stuck into the wall next to her head. The whole group turned around just in time to see two very unsettling things.

First and foremost, it appeared that they were wrong in assuming that the mine was abandoned. On the stone bridge that they'd come from stood Warwick and Talon, the latter of which was currently catching his thrown blade. On the bridge that lay before them were Cassiopeia and Singed. Riven snarled at the sight of the bio-terrorist and Katarina sneered at her sister.

The second problem was that Miss Fortune was running. "Sarah, wait!" Vi cried out as the pirate pulled out both pistols. She ran toward the latter two Noxians, aimed… and turned around. She holstered one pistol and held out her empty hand. Vi cocked her head in confusion.

"I led 'em in. Pretty stupid, really, thinking Swain wouldn't immediately mine the shit out of this place," Sarah said. "You have the bounty?" She added. Singed nodded and turned around, producing a large burlap sack when he turned back. To Vi's horror and rage, she glimpsed a large amount of gold in the sack when Miss Fortune inspected it. Time seemed to rewind for Vi and she painstakingly realized what had happened

"_Oops. Sorry."_

"_Apples and fuckin' oranges!"_

"Signs," Vi muttered. Both of those actions had been signals to Noxus' troops to close in. Miss Fortune smirked as Vi put two and two turned to Caitlyn. "She set us up, cupcake," She said.

"Are you sure?" Caitlyn said dryly. "And they've brought their army," She gestured to the many black-suited soldiers that were beginning to pour into the cave behind their leaders. "This won't be pretty…"

"We have to try and take them," Riven said tersely, drawing her broken sword. Jinx looked over at the former Noxian in disbelief.

"And they I'm the crazy one. There's about… sixty? Seventy? A lot of them, to say the least. And that's only the soldiers we can see. God only knows who they've got back behind them. We could be talking hundreds," She said. Riven shrugged.

"Like we have a choice," She replied simply. Jinx had no further argument.

"If we're going down… we might as well do it fighting to our last, guys," Lux said, her eyes dead set on Talon and Warwick. "Alright, here's the plan. Vi, I know you want to bash some skulls but you're the best of us to be able to actually hack the door behind us open. Bash in the keypad and see if you can't rewire the system," She said.

"I could just bash the door-"

"I can feel the force field around this door, Vi. Light powers, remember? Force fields are just concentrated light," Lux interrupted the brawler. Vi nodded. "Katarina, Riv, Teemo, take the right side," She said with a glance to Singed and Cassiopeia. "The rest of us will take the left. Don't try and win, just try to hold," She added. Then, as an afterthought, "DEMACIA!"

And with that, she fired a binding shot that nearly snared Warwick. The anthropomorphic wolf wasn't about to be bound twice though and leapt over the shot, leaving three foot soldiers to cry out in pain as they were brought together by force.

Talon leapt forward, both of them slamming Lux to the floor at the same time. The Demacian struggled in Warwick's grip as Talon brought a blade up, but the ominous sound of a gun cocking made him freeze and look up. "Back off!" Tristana ordered, firing her cannon and sending both Noxians face-up on the floor. Lux too hit the deck as gatling fire sprayed forth into the crowd from Pow-Pow, but the brigade surged forward through the bullets.

"Still sucking Swain's-" Katarina was interrupted from insulting her sister as she dodged a soldier's punch, causing the man to fumble forward and trip off the edge. "Guardrails much?" Katarina said before being knocked to the floor by her sister's tail. She sprang back up and tossed yet another knife, this one burying into a soldier's head and instantly killing him. He fell down with the rest of her kills, each sporting a bloody knife in one part of them or another.

"So skilled, yet you betray your kin and murder your own kind," Cassiopeia spat as she missed a venom spray. Katarina snarled and lashed out, scoring a strike that left her sister hissing in pain as she looked down at the gash across her stomach.

"_You _are NOT my kin," Katarina growled. "And these," She continued, stabbing a man in the back, "are no longer my people."

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" Riven spat as she fought her way out of Singed's grip on her neck. "You brought shame to my name, to my home and my legacy! How DARE you show your face in my presence?!" She yelled as she kicked Singed away. Her sword emanated its runic green light. She began to slice away at anything between her and a running Singed, dodging right to avoid his deadly gas trail as she sliced through the necks of three soldiers.

Singed suddenly doubled back and sprayed his chemicals at Riven, forcing her to the ground. As enemies began to attack her, she looked up at Singed's laughing face and tears of emotional trauma and rage came to her eyes.

Riven managed her way back to her feet, but she was beginning to wear out. Singed came at her with a needle in his hand, caught in Riven's left hand while she tried to pull her sword up for a strike. Singed grinned as he pushed forward and Riven gasped as she felt the needle penetrate flesh and pulse some vile liquid into her veins. She stumbled back, her vision blurry and nervous system beginning to break down. Falling to her knees, she felt her sword clatter from her hands.

Singed grinned before picking Riven up and looking dead into the eyes of Katarina. "RIV! WAKE UP! WAKE- NOOOO!" Katarina yelled as the alchemist threw her mentor over his shoulder and off into the void beneath.

"RIV!" Riven heard her best friend cry out as she fell. The toxin, whatever it was, was beginning to paralyze her. Unable to move, she closed her eyes, smiled and accepted death. And death indeed came for her, in the form of an angel of darkness, nonetheless. The angel looked down, eyes boring down into Riven's and spoke.

"You're damn lucky we're here," She said. Riven blinked. She hadn't expected that. Nor had she expected to not hit the ground, but rather begin to ascend in the arms of a dark angel. And she _especially _hadn't expected the dragon known as Shyvanna to soar up ahead of the pair.

"Wha…?" Riven managed. The angel smiled.

"I saved your butt. I owed a… friend," The angel seemed to struggle with the word, "a favor," She explained as they flew up and back onto the bridge Riven had fallen from. The sight that met them was… disturbing.


	20. The Beast Within

Katarina watched as Riven's white hair faded into the darkness below and looked up, unable to process what had happened. She looked at Singed, looked back down at the pit and then time stopped for the girl. "Wh-what the hell?" She stuttered, still in shock from her mentor's demise. Her shock only furthered when her own doppelganger stepped directly out of her figure and turned on her heel to face the original.

"Let me loose, _Katie_" The clone said. Katarina's eyes widened as she recognized the feral eyes that belay the cold, calculating killer's mind in the brain behind them. She recognized the grin, that sadistic craving for bloodshed. This was the old Katarina. This was the Katarina that had killed Jinx and Vi's parents.

"Come on. Set me free on those pathetic fools. I'll make each and every one of them pay for what they've done," the killer implored. Katarina swallowed. She could not handle the pain of losing Riven. She could not take the mental anguish. But she knew someone who could.

Katarina let go, disconnected herself from the world once again as the assassin within took control. Time returned to its working order just in time for Katarina to catch a soldier's blade in her hands. And she grinned her lustful grin. The last thing the poor man felt before he died was terror as his own blade went up from his jugular to his brain.

Katarina kicked the man aside, tossing him down the pit and leapt into the mass of cronies, disregarding the cuts, bruises and other wounds being inflicted by her targets as she dashed around, blades flashing in a deadly dance performed by a woman possessed, her mind on one thing only: revenge.

Singed and Cassiopeia wasted no time in retreating, shoving minions in front of them as meat shields while they ran for their lives, finally finding the door they'd came from and diving through. Having already killed over a hundred men, Katarina's head whipped around to Talon and Warwick, who were all the way across on the other bridge. Like an animal she raced around, stabbing a man bound by Lux's magic in the throat and throwing five knives from her person into the foreheads of five men.

Katarina finally met her match in Talon, who took Katarina by the wrist and flung her backwards to crash into Caitlyn and Lux. Jinx's eyes followed her, and then shot back up to the bridge still full of her enemies. "Catch," She hissed as she hoisted Fishbones high and launched a rocket straight at the bridge. Another hundred men cried out as the ground underneath them exploded, sending them plummeting them to their demise. Warwick used his inhuman speed to bound from the heads of the doomed soldiers and across to safety, while Talon used his teleportation to save his skin. The two glared at their assailant from across the gap before they bolted at the sight of Jinx aiming again.

Just as Talon's cape disappeared around the corner, the sound of grinding metal from behind them heralded their objective complete as Vi's tampering lowered the force field. "Wow, Jess. Nice shot," Vi commented as the door opened. "Come on, let's keep-" Vi stopped cold at the sight of the other bridge and Katarina in front of it. The bridge was littered with dead bodies, each mutilated beyond recognition with knives in their bodies. And at the head of that bridge was Katarina, sobbing uncontrollably.

"…Where the fuck is Riven?" Vi realized as she looked around. Jinx closed her eyes and shook her head.

"She got injected by some poison by Singed and he threw her off the edge. She's-"

"Lucky that you had eyes in the sky, that's what she is," A voice familiar to Vi spoke up from beneath them. And with that statement, Morgana soared up from the darkness of the pit, Riven limp in her arms but alive. "She's alive, but she's not moving," The angel added as she lay the swordswoman down.

"Kat!" Vi called. The redhead looked up, still crying and rubbed her eyes. Turning around, she froze at the sight of her fallen friend and ran forward, falling to her knees at her mentor's side. Katarina put an ear to Riven's chest, opened the girl's eyes and nearly fainted. Her best friend had survived… somehow. The Noxian looked around wildly; not that she was complaining, but unless Riven had recently grown wings… Her search finally ended when she laid eyes on Morgana.

"Hey!" Morgana shouted in surprise as Katarina latched on to her. She looked at Vi and gestured awkwardly as if to ask, "what do I do?". Vi smiled and made a hugging motion, remembering when Jinx had hugged her in her old home. Morgana shrugged as best she could and put her arms around Katarina, feeling like a fool but yet for some reason she smiled for the first time in a long time.

When Katarina pulled away, she caught sight of her other side's handiwork and swallowed hard. Jinx sidled up next to her and slung her arm around Katarina's shoulder with a smirk.

"Let the killer loose, eh?" She asked knowingly. Katarina laughed softly and nodded. Of course, Jinx would be the one to recognize it; Jinx was the only other one among them that really had that killer inside. "Sis was right… we're gonna need those killers at times like these. Don't sweat it, they knew what they were getting into," She said, gesturing toward the bodies.

Katarina smirked. "No, they didn't. But I get your point," She said. And then she saw something that made her blood freeze, just like all the others.

"…Help," The voice of Miss Fortune called weakly. Lux was the first to spot Sarah's pale fingers clutching to the side of the remaining bridge. Good thing for Sarah too, because Lux was the most merciful of the group that was still able to stomp Fortune's fingers. Not that said mercy was really at the front of her mind as she walked forward at a calm, even pace and removed her left shoe. She rested her bare foot on Sarah's fingers; no sense needlessly breaking the pirate's fingers with the hard sole of her shoe. Besides, the cool stone floor of the cave felt nice after the heat of the previous battle.

"Why should I help you after you just nearly got us killed?" Lux asked dangerously, putting some weight into the left leg. Sarah groaned as Lux's foot caused unbearable pain in her hand, making it harder to hang on. The fact that the mage's toenails were digging into the sensitive skin on the sides of her fingers wasn't helping matters, either.

"Listen, I've been hard up lately ok? The gold they offered… It would have been enough to put me on the high life. They told me that I was simply scouting so they'd know when to meet you to discuss the mines. They didn't say anything about attacking you," Sarah said between grunts of pain.

"Hm… Jinx, you're better than I am at interrogation, right Kat?" Lux said, grinning at the pair. Both women went scarlet and nodded. "Maybe I ought to let Jinx take care of you, Fortune," Lux called down, stomping her foot down for emphasis and causing Sarah to yell.

Sarah was panicking. The story of the torture Jinx had inflicted had quickly gone from Katarina to Cassiopeia during a visitation, then from Cassiopeia to pretty much all of Noxus, which included most of Bilgewater. She'd felt shame about herself when she'd realized that she led the only people to extend a free friendship into a death trap, and despite the fear-driven panic in her head that shame continue to grow in the back of her mind.

Jinx inched her way forward, making sure the toe of her shoe was within the pirate's view. The girl was shaking with silent laughter as she peered down to see the look on Sarah's face, causing Lux to sigh. "Demacia believes in second chances, Sarah. This is yours," She said, lifting her foot and extending a hand. Sarah's mouth dropped in surprise. They were seriously going to trust her again?

Lux felt Sarah grab her hand and started to pull when she felt someone poke her in the ribs. She yelped and nearly lost her grip, causing Sarah to scream. Lux whipped her head around to see Vi standing behind her. "The hell do you think you're doing?" She snapped as she began to pull again.

Vi grinned. She remembered Sarah toying with them back at the Institute with her whole "maybe I do, maybe I don't" routine. And Vi sure as hell wasn't going to let this perfect chance to turn the tables pass by.

"See Sarah," Vi called down, "Lux here is pretty ticklish," She said, demonstrating by again grabbing onto Lux's ribs momentarily. Lux nearly jumped out of her skin and lost her hold on the pirate, scrambling forward and diving to her knees to catch her hand.

She turned her head back again, this time highly annoyed. Vi was using her worst weakness to get back at Sarah. Not cool. Vi smirked and continued.

"And to be honest, it's pretty fuckin' funny to see Lux hop around like a bunny eating a carrot made of crack," She said. "So yeah. If you aren't willing to spill a few secrets about Noxus, maybe, just maybe I find it _too _funny. And it's pretty hard for her to keep a good grip when I'm making her jump all over the place," Vi added. Sarah paled as she realized that she was now being played as the victim.

"You are SO paying for this later," Lux hissed. Caitlyn rolled her eyes. Vi was such a _bitch _when she wanted to be… Lux tensed as Vi put her hands to rest on her ribs again. "I'd recommend talking before she does it again," Lux called.

"OK, OK! Fine! Just… just don't do that again. What are you after?" Sarah cried out. Vi smirked.

"That's more like it. Surely when you were dealing with those faggots they must have told you something about what they were doing with the mine. A good pirate never accepts a half-informed job," Vi added. Sarah felt a poorly-timed sense of pride and nodded uselessly.

"Yes… I asked them why they wanted to talk with you about the damn thing. They told me that you and them had talked about splitting the spoils of the mine between yourselves as sort of a peace offering," She said quickly.

"Interesting… What did they want with the mine?" Vi asked.

"Uhm…" _Fuck,_ Sarah thought. Not a good time for her memory to fail. A yelping laugh from Lux and the girl's grip loosening cleared things up pretty well. "OH! Ok! Fuck, I remember now! They talked about weapons rumored to be in the… I think they said 'secured area' or some shit," She explained.

Vi turned to Jinx and her sister looked over the edge into the eyes of the pirate. After a good, hard look she nodded. That was everything. Vi backed off of Lux and the Demacian quickly pulled Sarah up and to her feet. Then she marched up to Vi.

"I don't know when. I don't know how. But you're going to get it for that," Lux threatened, poking a finger into Vi's chest, unable to hide the tolerant smile. Vi laughed as she led the way past the door she'd opened.

"I know," She said. After everyone else had passed through the doorway (not quite so easy for Morgana, who nearly re-broke her wing on the frame) Vi stopped and made a U-turn, heading back to the door they'd came from. Sarah, who'd been recovering from the fright and the physical strain, looked up and noticed that the group was waiting for her.

"Oh!" She said, running for the door… and running smack into it as it closed on her face. "Hey! What the hell? Some help over here?" Sarah asked.

Vi removed her gauntlet from the control panel on the other side of the door, leaving the machine firing sparks at random. "Sarah, it's Vi. Looks like the door controls malfunctioned. I'll try to re-wire it again," She said.

"Okay… thanks," Sarah said in relief.

"Just kidding. Fuck you, bitch," Miss Fortune's jaw dropped again as she heard Vi's laugh retreat down the hall behind the door. She stomped her foot like a petulant child and looked around, finally finding the only still-intact way out.


	21. The Capture

"Ssssssssh, we don't know who's in here," Vi said, trying to shut the group up while quietly laughing herself. Even Caitlyn was in a fit of barely contained hysterics at the complete shutdown Vi had just given to the traitorous pirate. "Alright… keep your eyes peeled. We took out the welcome wagon. No idea who or what else might be around," Vi said as they exited from the small hallway into another area of the mine. This time there was no pit, but active mining drones were hard at work, pummeling into the walls and taking pieces of silver, gold and other metals away from the exposed area.

"Raw materials," Caitlyn observed as the robots dumped their cargo into large metal holding bins. Then she stopped and frowned. The chamber was lit… yet there were no lights shining. Looking up, she saw a purple and amber sky as the sun began to set. "This place is out in the open… I'd estimate the walls as least two hundred feet tall," Caitlyn added to her friends.

Teemo nodded and jumped up into one of the holding bins. "Hm… standard gold and silver… some iron… nothing but ordinary metals," He declared. Vi frowned. Why would they store a simple mining compound behind a locked door protected with a force field? Looking around, Vi saw another door and pointed.

"Let's keep moving. This one locked too?" She stuck her hand out and felt the metal of the door clang against her gauntlet. "Not shielded, anyway." She announced before leveling it with a fist. And then her fist fell to her side, forgotten in the shock of what she saw.

"What… this is unreal…" Katarina whispered. The room was huge. This was again an open ceiling, and front of them sat many armored vehicles. Some looked made for flight, others for ground, but one thing was clear; they were all armed. "These must be years old," Katarina observed, scratching at a patch of rust on one of the tank-like vehicles.

"Ten years, as a matter of fact," The group spun around to see the one man that Vi most wanted to meet in person.

"Jericho Swain," She said, licking her lips like an animal on the hunt. Swain grinned and rested on his cane, watching with a bored and amused look on his face as Vi swung at him. Her fist banged off of his cane as he raised it and the enforcer found herself on the floor with a groan.

"Vi!" Caitlyn shouted as Vi was laid out. She whipped her rifle around as Jinx pulled out Pow-Pow and both of them fired, flanked by Lux's and Morgana's binding spells, the yordles' gunfire and Katarina's flurry of blades.

Swain rolled his eyes and raised his cane again, emitting from it a green field that stopped all of the projectiles in their tracks. Then he smirked and pushed his cane forth, sending the shield flying at his assailants and paralyzing them instantly. "It was a fool's errand, invading this mine. These weaponized vehicles are far too out of date to be useful in today's world. Some of its technology was useful in the reverse engineering process… just like your gauntlets will be," he added as he lifted Vi's arms up over her head. She tried to pull away, but the paralysis held as Swain removed her prized weapons. "These darling gloves certainly will be useful for my foot soldiers during the invasion," He said as he examined them.

"Take them to Fort Shant," Swain ordered as a handful of men rushed in from the door behind them. "They'll be taught proper manners there. I'll oversee it personally," He said with relish as the paralyzed guerilla soldiers were forced to march out of the room.

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"So what now?" Lux asked. She was just as furious as her cellmate, Vi, but rather than making her knuckles bleed with the force of a punch she'd aimed in frustration, Lux was trying to reason. She took a moment to evaluate the situation.

She and Vi were in one cell of a prison known as Fort Shant. They'd been stripped to their underwear upon arrival, as both a security measure and a method of humiliation. Lux's short sword had been confiscated, and she could only assume the same measures had been taken for the others.

That wasn't the worst of it, though. In a stroke of brilliance, as even Lux had to admit, the Noxians had set up a system of constant psychological and physical torture. On the hour, every other hour, one person or another would enter the room, paralyze them and take one of them at random out before spending the hour doing as they pleased with their new toy. It'd only been three days and they already bore marks from it. And that was if they got off easy with a simple hour-long beating.

There'd been the waterboarding. Then the hair pulling. And then, in the fourth hour Lux's worst nightmare came true; they'd found out about the tickling from a jilted Miss Fortune. The guards seemed to enjoy making the Demacian squeal and screech like a bird and Lux's body tingled from head to toe from the aftermath.

And all the while, the other cellmate was forced to watch it all happen, paralyzed and unable to look away or cover their ears. At first it had been in the name of interrogation. Then the guards realized that the two weren't saying a damn thing and began this new regimen.

"I… I don't know. Every opportunity we possibly get, they paralyze us. There's literally nothing we can do. I… He may have just won," Vi said with a rare fear in her voice. Then her ears perked as she heard voices down the hall. "Shut up," She said. Lux nodded and tried to focus on the sounds as well. Was their torture brigade back early?

"Come on, move it blue and red! The man wants you here and I ain't about to have you two make me late, " One guard said with a nasty laugh. The two cellmates looked as best they could around the corner just in time to see Jinx and Katarina be pushed forward, motivated by the swords at their backs. Vi's face went cold as she saw her sister, but couldn't take her eyes off of Katarina. Katarina's betrayal must have gotten her special attention, because she looked considerably worse for the wear than Jinx. She'd been branded on her right side. There were bruises, lacerations and… were those rope marks on her neck?

"Alright Kitty Kat. You said you'd do this, we said we'd spare you a day. Hold your end," The guard pushing Katarina said roughly as the other stood a paralyzed Jinx upright and held her still. Vi cocked her head. What in the hell were they talking about?

"What the fuck's going on here?" She demanded. Jinx's guard grinned.

"We did some talking with your old friend over here. She finally came back around. Knew she had it in her. Kat said that she's gotten to know you guys better than us and said she'd be better at… caring for you guys," He phrased the last bit so that Vi clearly got the message: Katarina was their new torturer in exchange for her own skin.

"You never changed a bit," Vi hissed, spitting at Katarina. She fell woefully short and Katarina smirked.

"That, _Pink_, was a bad idea," She said mockingly before slapping Jinx across the face. The bluenette did her best to make no noise, to give her no satisfaction, but Katarina kept going. A knee to the stomach, a whip straight into the iron bars of Vi and Lux's cell… "This is for all the tortures you gave me," Katarina laughed at Vi's expression of rage.

Then three words nearly ruined everything. "You with me?" Vi heard Katarina mutter near-inaudibly even as she pulled Jinx off the floor. Vi's face fell for a short second before returning to the mask of rage. She'd seen Jinx weakly nod. She was in on it, in on whatever plan Katarina had concocted. Katarina turned back to Jinx's guard and made a motion, which caused him to go back around the corner and bring back Pow-Pow.

"Time to watch some people die," Katarina said with an evil, disgusting laugh, a laugh that flashed Vi back to her parent's death. And then it happened. She took the weapon in her hands, aimed at Jinx, then whipped around and fired two neat shots, one for each guard's neck. A third shot blew the hinges off of the cell door as Jinx recovered on the ground.

"Vi… Jinx… I am so, so sorry. I had to get them off guard, to trust me," Katarina said as silent tears streamed down her face even as she handed a standing Jinx her gun. She looked at the ground, then back up with the eyes of the cold assassin. "But now's not the time to cry," She snarled. Vi nodded, and then caught sight of Jinx's eyes. They'd changed. They were deranged… again.

"Oh, shit," Vi cursed as she realized what had happened. The real Jinx, Jessebelle, had been broken. And while she was away recovering… Jinx raised Pow-Pow and fired on Katarina, who jumped to the side and took cover behind Vi. Even the "psycho" Jinx couldn't bring herself to fire on her sister.

"Come on Kat, come out and play like a woman!" Jinx said gleefully as Katarina made a break for it down the hall. Lux snapped around to look at Vi as they chased.

"It's gonna be the battle of the goddamn ages in here, Vi! Dark Jinx against Dark Katarina! They're going to rip this place apart fighting!" Lux said. Vi nodded.

"I know. And I'm not gonna stop 'em till they do," She said. Lux's jaw dropped.

"What?!"

"Think about it, Lux. If we try to bring this place down, we'll be in one group and one place. They'll have a fairly easy time of taking us down, especially since we're worn out from all the torture. But I'd LOVE to see these guys try and get between those two psychos," Vi grinned. Lux stared even as they came to a crossing.

"…Left. Garen always told me right was wrong," Lux said. Vi shrugged. Last time she'd taken the right path she'd been going into Monkey Kingdom territory, so… They continued their mad dash, eventually stopping at a doorway. There wasn't even a door on it, just an entrance.

"Storage," Vi grinned as she pointed to hers and Lux's clothes in addition to the others. "Don't see our weapons though… must be a weapons room somewhere around here. Whatever, get dressed quick," She said as she threw her typical police uniform on in record time before slinging all the other clothing over her shoulder.

"Alright, now we just gotta get these things off my wrists and I'll be back in business," Lux said as she pointed to the bracelets that nullified her magic. Vi started to say something, but an explosion cut her off. "I really hope Katarina's still in one piece after that," Lux said as they raced back down the other hall.

"THERE! WE CAN AT LEAST GET THEM!" Vi looked ahead to see at least fifty guards in their path. She smirked; she didn't have her gauntlets, she was beaten and bloodied, but by God she was still Vi. Foregoing her typical dash punch, she dove into the crowd, knocking people down left and right. Lux watched helplessly; she was useless in a hand-to-hand fight of this handicap.

"GO!" Vi shouted at the light mage. Lux hesitated for a second, then leapt through the melee and moved on, nearly falling on her butt as she skidded to a stop before Riven and Teemo's cell.

"Uhm… uhm…" Lux stuttered as she looked at the lock. She didn't have any way t o break the lock. "I'll be-" She had to cut herself off as she hit the floor, barely dodging a rocket. The same could be said for Vi, but not most of the guards. Another rocket blew a hole in the wall of Riven/Teemo's cell and the two wasted little time escaping.

"Don't know where this hole leads, but we'll meet up somewhere!" Teemo cried out as they ran. Vi nodded as she dusted herself off.

"They're gonna kill one of us eventually," Lux muttered. Vi nodded in agreement.

"Yup. That's why we need to get the hell out of here before they get the chance," "Vi said. Their pace slowed slightly as they tired, but they still continued to run down the corridors of the jail block. "How fucking big is this place?!" Vi shouted in frustration.

"There!" Lux pointed to a staircase up ahead. Vi sighed in relief as the pair dashed up it, then stopped dead at the sight before them.

The room they'd came up to was an empty shell of what it had been. Walls were eaten away, cell doors were twisted and blown clean off, and in the middle of what might as well of been an arena now were Katarina and Jinx. Vi spotted the rest of the crew, presumed they'd escaped during the fight and ran over to them.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Riven demanded. Vi bit her lip.

"Katarina tricked the guards into letting her loose by smacking Jinx around a bit. Then Jinx finally broke and, well, you know what happens when Jinx breaks. And then Katarina decided that the only way to fight off that psycho was with… well, you get the idea."

"…This'll be a bloodbath and you know it," Riven said as she ducked gunfire. Vi shrugged and pointed.

"It will be if they take us out. They've got those paralyzing things. Teemo?" Vi's attention turned to the yordle. He looked up, all ears. "Time to shine. Get invisible and go blind 'em. They can't shoot what they can't see and hopefully they'll just wind up getting each other with those damn things," Vi ordered. Teemo nodded and became unseen quickly before running off.

"Ok, now what? That still doesn't solve… this," Lux waved a hand at the two warring women. Vi shrugged again.

"My initial idea of letting them tear the place down sounded better on paper, I'll admit. But how the hell are we going to get between them? You didn't handle Jinx back when she was… that… all the time. I know this Jinx better than to think we can just calm her down," She explained.

"I could bind 'em if we can get these things off," Lux replied, waving her wrists. Tristana looked up and frowned.

"Bend down here," She said. Perplexed, Lux did as told. Tristana closed one eye, took careful aim and fired her cannon, sending a precision shot dead into one of the cuffs and cracking it open. Lux hissed in pain from her wrist being hit so card but shook it off, holding out the other wrist. Tristana repeated the process, Lux cursed a few times and then thanked Tristana before looking back to the brawl.


	22. A Death In The Family

The fight was getting intense. Katarina was in control of her "dark side", using the skills and heightened abilities that the assassin she'd been inherently had to hold with Jinx. What scared Katarina was that she could tell Jessebelle was nowhere to be found behind the pink eyes that were aiming Pow-Pow. And the "dark" Jinx was _pissed_.

"Slap me around, eh? Think you can torture me and just get away with it? Come on, Blade Lady! You wanted to play!" Jinx said, using the same sort of pet name that she used to use on Vi and Caitlyn. She fired another burst of rounds at Katarina, who leapt forward over the stream of lead and slashed fiercely at Jinx. Katarina drew in her darkness' literal killer instinct as to not let the assassin finish the job by slicing Jinx's throat.

The psychopathic criminal responded to such restraint by opening full fire on the Noxian, forcing Katarina to dive for one of the few remaining half-walls left in what used to be the whole prison, now one giant room from all the explosions. "Boom time!" Jinx declared gleefully as she hefted Fishbones and fired at Katarina, causing her to roll away. Katarina cursed; that wall was her best chance at surviving Pow-Pow, and now it was nothing more than scattered plywood, drywall and steel.

Katarina looked quickly around and realized that there really was nowhere else to hide, so when Jinx lit the ground up with Pow-Pow again she simply ran forward. The bullets followed her fast, and only her other half's hard-conditioned speed kept her safe. But Jinx's gunfire followed her. Followed her too close.

Caitlyn screamed as Vi was knocked over by the force of the bullets that raced through her chest. Katarina quickly quashed her other half as she looked over and saw the damage, rushing over to see four bullet wounds in Vi's upper body.

And Jinx just stood, silent. Shaking. And suddenly, the lights came back on. Sheer emotion from Jessebelle overcame Jinx and Jessebelle banished her psychosis to the depths of her being before running over, horrified. Katarina's eyes snapped up to Jinx's own, saw that they were normal once more and nodded.

"We need to get her out of here. I saw some assault vehicles like the ones in the mines out in the front of this place. We can escape in those. Someone needs to carry her, carefull-" Katarina's terse orders were cut short by a rumble in the earth. "…What was that?"

Another bout of tremors, this time more powerful rocked the ground. "Oh, shit. I think Jinx's rockets may have done exactly what Vi wanted," Caitlyn realized. "Explosions of that magnitude? Hitting the foundation of this building? If she blew one of the cornerstones… and I think she did," Caitlyn added as the shaking grew fiercer. "This place is going to come down on our heads if we don't move NOW," She said.

"…Guys," Everyone looked down at Vi, who Lux was supporting in a sitting position. "You won't make it out… if you drag me with you. I'm dead weight. If one of us has to go, make it one of us and not all," She managed, coughing up blood. Caitlyn shook her head.

"Absolutely not. I will not leave your side, Vi," She said firmly. Katarina closed her eyes and nodded.

"She's right, Cait. We have to cut our losses. War isn't pretty, especially guerilla warfare," She said. Caitlyn swallowed hard. She did not want to leave her long-time partner and friend to die.

"Cupcake… do it for me. Do it for Runeterra. Go," Vi whispered. Caitlyn knelt down, grimaced and nodded before embracing her partner one last time. Another tremor forced them apart and Katarina jerked her head toward the exit. Vi smiled sadly as everyone ran for it, then looked up when Jinx turned around.

"No matter where we go," She said.

"What we do," Vi replied with a laugh that produced blood.

"We'll always be sister. I'm… I'm sorry," Jinx finished. She could not cry right now. She could not think about what she'd done, what was about to happen, not if she was going to think straight enough to escape.

Vi nodded and Jinx bolted. "Good luck…" Vi whispered before closing her eyes.

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Morgana just managed to fly out by the tips of her wings as the last person to escape from the building, which had been dropping debris left and right at them. She felt a piece of concrete clip her left wing as she made it out, spying the others running out to the vehicle lot.

"…Not now," She decided. She'd have time to get all folded into the group later. Right now they needed their own time. She may have been a dark angel, but Morgana was still quite sensitive to emotions and feelings. Rather than following the group, she flared her wings and caught air, soaring into the sky.

"Where the hell is she going?" Tristana demanded as she spotted the angel's silhouette against the setting sun.

"Don't know, don't care. How the fuck do I start this thing?" Katarina wondered as she sat in the front seat of an ATV. There was no keyhole in the console, so Katarina was stumped.

"I'll see what I can find," Jinx said before trying to lift the hood. She felt for a lever and found none. "Pop the damn hood!" She snapped.

"There's no button for it," came the reply. Jinx growled.

"Boom time," She muttered as she slapped two small explosives on the hood's hinges. She pulled the wires and ducked away as the small blasts destroyed the hinges and sent the hood flying. "Alright… the hextech mega-drive is connected to the core reactor, the core reactor is connected to the energy siphon, the energy siphon is connected to the radial wavelength coordinator, the radial wavele" Jinx's little song routine was cut short by the look on Katarina's face. Jinx shrugged but shut up, taking little time after to find a way to kick-start the vehicle.

Katarina grinned as the engine roared to life. Riven and Teemo were in the back, while Caitlyn had Lux, Jinx and Tristana in tow. Then, as if strictly to cut off Katarina's euphoria the final explosion came, sending the remains of the prison crashing down to the ground.

"…Goodbye, little Vi. I'll avenge you," Katarina swore quietly as she hit the accelerator.

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"They escaped… but lost a member. Hm. I'll say 'worth' then, especially considering who they lost. Do you have the body? I'd like her head on my trophy wall along with the others who have fought Noxus," Swain told Randuin.

"Actually… no body to be found. There was a fire from one of the explosions hitting a gas line. We presume she was simply incinerated," Randuin replied. Swain frowned.

"Disappointing, but alas, you can't have your cake and eat it too I suppose… What's left of them will be going back to Piltover," He mused. Randuin nodded and raised a hand up. "You have a question?"

"All due respect, Mr. Swain, but now that we've committed a war crime they'll have the whole of Demacia's fleet on us. I feel it is time to mobilize our own forces," Randuin said. Swain tapped his chin in thought.

"Prepare, but do not deploy. I want as much time as possible to research and develop the weapons that we _did _find in the mines. A metal alloy that can cut through anything… and with the magic we're infusing it with…" Swain trailed off. Randuin smiled; he'd wielded a blade of that alloy in training recently and the results had been very satisfying.

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"Katarina… are you ok? Your neck…" Lux asked hesitantly. They'd made it back to Piltover in a broken heap, but alive. Caitlyn and Jinx were at the latter's house, mourning the loss of Vi while the others stayed at the station for calls. Katarina hadn't uttered a word since she'd returned, and no one had actually disturbed her.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'll live," She said, rubbing the bruise on her neck. Her mind flashed back to that particular hour, when the guards had decided it'd be fun to set her on a stool, put a noose on her and then slide the stool out, standing her back up only when she went blue in the face. Tristana had spent the "safe hour" consoling the Noxian as she cried.

"I've informed Garen of what happened. The Demacian military is mobilized and ready for these assholes. And the moment Swain makes a mistake, I'll personally see to it that he pays for what he's done," Lux said solemnly. Katarina snorted and shook her head.

"That won't bring her back. Nothing will. No matter what happens, Swain's had at least one victory. And I'm the stupid bitch that lead the bullets to her," She said, slamming a fist on the table she was sitting at. Tristana rolled her eyes. Teemo was like this every time a mission didn't go perfectly; she knew how to handle this.

"Katie, you were running for your life. It was you, her and the room. You couldn't have seen where you were going when you're thinking like that. What's done is done, and moping around won't avenge her," She said sagely. Katarina pursed her lips, then sighed

"…I know. It's no one's fault but Swain's. But still, I feel guilty. I killed her parents, forced her to lose her memory and she forgave me. I repaid that debt by getting her killed."

"Nah. You repaid it by coming around and fighting for a _real _cause. You became one of us and protected us at any and every cost when you could. And I have faith that you still will," Tristana replied, patting Katarina on the thigh. Katarina nodded and smiled for the first time in hours.

"…Thank you," She said, patting Tristana on the head. Tristana's eye twitched and she walked off, muttering something about yordles, pets and human rights petitions.

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Caitlyn's dreams were dreadful that night. Over and over the same situation replayed, nothing more than a gruesome reminder of the tragic ending to Vi's life. Then suddenly after yet another replay a different image appeared. It was Vi as she was on the day of their meeting. She stared into Caitlyn's eyes, circling her before speaking.

"Stop it, Cupcake. You're doing what I used to do. You're kicking yourself for something you didn't do. The only thing you can do for me now is avenge me, Cait. Protect Runeterra. Stop Swain. And… well, _enforce _order," She said. Caitlyn grimaced and stared.

"…Fair enough. But promise me this, Vi. Promise me that you will never leave me. I know you can't be here with me anymore. But please. Please stay with me as best you can," Caitlyn pleaded. Vi smiled.

"Always there for ya, Cupcake," She said. And with that, Caitlyn shot up out of bed, shaking in a cold sweat. Looking around the room, she remembered that she was sleeping in Vi's old bed as sort of a comfort to Jinx. Speaking of… Caitlyn put on a nightgown after noticing Jinx wasn't in bed and slowly made her way down the stairs. The guards hadn't done much to her; a few marks here, a scratch there, but most of what they'd done to her was psychological, which didn't work very well against a well-organized mind like Caitlyn's.

"What in the world are you doing?" Caitlyn asked as she caught Jinx in the "Hextech Garage". When Jinx didn't answer, Caitlyn took a closer look over Jinx's shoulder to see what the bluenette was using a blowtorch on. What she saw made her rub her temples.

"Jinx…" She began at the sight of a half-built hextech gauntlet. Jinx finally looked up.

"If her blood is going to be on my hands then so is her legacy," Jinx replied in an oddly creepy tone. Caitlyn rolled her eyes. Talk about overdramatic.

"Vi's blood is not on your hands. You weren't in control. It was just like before when-"

Jinx shot up, turned around and stuck her right hand in Caitlyn's face. "Was this, or was this not the hand that was squeezing the trigger on Pow-Pow?" She snarled. Caitlyn sighed and looked to the heavens for strength. "Answer me!" Jinx demanded.

"Yes, but-"

"And," Jinx said, now holding out her left hand, "Was this or was this not the hand that pulled the trigger on Fishbones?" She demanded.

"Yes, Jinx. You and both know that it was your physical extremities that operated the guns. But it wasn't your god damn mind," Caitlyn said impatiently. Jinx shook her head.

"She will stay with me. I will keep her close in every way I can. That includes these," She said, gesturing to one finished gauntlet and the work in progress.

"You work fast," Caitlyn marveled, inspecting the finished weapon. Jinx smiled.

"Always was the better mechanic. If you ever told Vi that though, hoo boy," Jinx said. Then it hit her that she'd never have another chance to say it. "She really is gone, isn't she, Cait?" Jinx asked, setting down the blowtorch.

"Afraid so, Jinx. Afraid so," Caitlyn replied, catching Jinx in her need for comfort and embracing her.

And they cried.


	23. Ain't No Grave

"Alright. I've lost my memory, fought my deranged sister, fought everything from demons to fucking robots on the Rift and even made friends with my parent's killer. And yet, this is somehow still weird to me," Vi said as she got up and dusted herself off. "Oh, okay. I see how it is, guys. Don't wait behind and see if the dead girl is actually immortal. The hell with you too," She laughed at her own joke.

Looking down at herself, she saw the four bullet holes gone, now merely spots where they'd been. "Alright, am I a ghost? Is my body still around here somewhere? And where the unholy FUCK are my gauntlets?" Vi demanded.

"For someone who just defied the laws of morality and survived certain death, you certainly haven't lost any of your attitude," Vi balled a fist up, ready for a fight as always and turned around.

"Kayle," She said uncertainly. Of all people, Kayle was one of the stranger sights she'd expected.

"Good, your memory is still intact this time," Kayle smirked as she took her helmet off. Vi rolled her eyes.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Oh, and heehee too. I'll take a wild guess here: Morgana flew up, started to hightail it, then saw that the building was coming down. Somehow she got you, her sister, here in time to save whoever's butt would be in danger of dying with that Divine Intervention of yours?" Vi ventured.

"Very perceptive. That's two favors you owe her," Kayle said with a grin. Vi nodded.

"Yeah, well, she can call those in whenever. In the meantime… I need to hightail it home. They think I'm dead," She lamented. Kayle shrugged.

"I saved your life, but I'm no taxi. My wings wouldn't be able to take it. I'll keep you safe until you figure something out, but that Divine Intervention took a lot of my strength," She replied. Vi frowned and felt for her communicator. Its frequency wouldn't reach as far as Piltover. Bilgewater, on the other hand… Fort Shant was on the waterfront, and Miss Fortune wasn't the only pirate on the seas.

"This is an S.O.S. to Gangplank. Fort Shant is destroyed and I, Vi of Piltover need a pickup. There's 10,000 gold in it for you," She said before pocketing the device. Kayle clapped.

"Nice. He should be here in about… ten minutes," She said with a laugh. Vi nodded and stood awkwardly for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. After a few minutes, Vi saw the pirate's ship come into view, causing both women's eyes to widen.

"Ok… I was joking," Kayle said. "He must have been right on the coast… Anyway, I'll be off now. Do try to not nearly die again, will you, dear?" She asked. Vi grinned.

"I make no promises. But in all seriousness," Kayle looked over as she prepared to take off, "If you ever, _ever _need anything… you know where to get in touch with me at. Whether I'm in Piltover or not, they'll reach me one way or another. Don't be afraid to call a favor in," Vi said, closing the distance between them and giving Kayle a brief hug as Gangplank docked on the water's edge.

Kayle donned her helmet and smiled. "Will do, Officer," And with that, she flew off into the night just like her sister. Vi followed her with her eyes for a few moments until a voice interrupted her.

"You called for a ride?" Vi recognized Gangplank's rough baritone and turned around, smiling amusedly and nodding as the pirate finished the rest of his orange. "Ten thousand payment, right?" Vi nodded again. "Well then, welcome aboard. Set sail for Piltover!" He called to his crew.

As Vi stepped onto the wooden planks that were the floor of his vessel, her mind flashed back to Sarah's ship. A brief flash of anger struck her; Fortune had been the one that caused them to be captured _and _been the one that had ratted to the guards about Lux's weakness.

"So, what the hell brings a girl like you to Fort god damn Shant?" Gangplank asked, ripping Vi from her thoughts. Vi sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and began to explain. Since there really wasn't much else to do, the pirate simply listened as Vi told the complete story of the war they'd waged so far. "And here I was thinking I was the most reckless person around," He said when Vi was done.

"We oughta compare notes someday, then," Vi said with a laugh. "Anyway… I know it's for the money, but thanks for the ride anyway," She said. Gangplank laughed heartily at that remark.

"I didn't have anything better to do today anyway," He replied.

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The next four days dragged on for Vi and the crew at Piltover alike. A memorial was held in honor of Vi in lieu of a proper funeral due to the lack of a body. Many tears had been shed that day and everyone stood up for a twenty-one gun salute, led by Caitlyn's new rifle that she'd had remade to the last detail.

Besides that occasion, Jinx had barely come out of her garage, opting to continue working on the new gauntlets as if they were the only link she could have with her sister. There had been times when Caitlyn had actually been forced to deliver the ex-con food to the garage to make her eat.

Katarina was being compulsive too; training with her blades every chance she got and learning how to better use the other side of herself. After seeing Jinx lose control, she'd been spooked and vowed to never let that happen to her.

Riven, seeing her charge training as she herself had when she had first been accepted into the Noxian military, accompanied Katarina. She practiced every sword and wind technique she could think of and sparred off with her protégé when requested.

Lux and the yordles trained, sure, but they were the least serious of the guerilla army. Lux was still getting used to her new short sword and the yordles were just getting the feel of their new weapons. Still, they knew that practicing all day would do nothing but needlessly tire them out and called it quits at reasonable times.

And so it was that each one of them began to tire quickly. So when Caitlyn fell to sleep on the fourth day after Vi's passing, she was absolutely knocked out. Her dreams had gotten kinder, some of Vi, some of other things, but nothing that kicked her in the face over what had happened. Tonight was a rather… personal dream of which describing really isn't warranted.

Jinx, too, was having better dreams, and tonight was herself beating the utter tar out of Swain and her psycho side, absorbing hits like Superman and generally being the epitome of a Mary Sue. She smiled as her dreams turned quite amusing; she was currently choke slamming her darkness THROUGH the ground.

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Vi hit land at about two in the morning. She led Gangplank to the Piltover treasury paid him his fare as well as another thousand for hearing her out both during the story of the war and her slight breakdown and thanked him. He nodded and smiled.

"So. Going to go sleep at the station and deliver the good news in the morning, eh?" Gangplank asked as Vi started to walk away. Vi snorted and turned back around with an absolutely devilish look on her face.

"Caitlyn's ALWAYS told me about how she's 'unprankable' because of her 'keen senses and collected mind'," She said, using airborne quotations. "There is no way in hell I am letting the chance to scare the holy living shit out of her go by untaken," Vi grinned like the ruffian she'd always been and Gangplank just smiled and shook his head.

"You're evil. Well, I'll be off then. Best of luck," He added over his shoulder. Vi nodded and turned the other way towards Caitlyn's house, praying she was there.

Using the key that she'd had to Caitlyn's house for years, Vi slowly, carefully opened the door before removing her boots. She bit her lip as she crept up the stairs; Caitlyn's stairs were slightly creaky, and it took extra caution to avoid making too much noise. Once up the stairs, she turned right and found Caitlyn's bedroom, sneaking in like the thief in the night she once was.

Vi choked back a laugh as Caitlyn uttered a rather inappropriate phrase in response to her dreams. She made her way to the head of Caitlyn's bed, bent down so that her face would be right in hers when the sheriff's eyes opened and took in a breath.

"BOOGA BOOGA MOTHERFUCKING BOOGA!"Caitlyn's eyelids did indeed shoot up, as did the rest of her body as she arched about two feet in the air before falling off the bed in shock. Vi roared with laughter and started fist-pumping. "Yes! Oh HELL yes!" She said, doing a celebration dance to commemorate having finally gotten her partner.

Caitlyn was shaking in shock, fear and disbelief. Her breaths came ragged and short as she slowly composed herself. Finally, she managed to collect herself enough to climb back up on the bed. And faint. "Really, Cupcake," Vi groaned. "Oi. Wake up," Vi grumbled into Caitlyn's ear. Caitlyn again shot into a sitting position before turning to the source of the sound. "Now, let's try staying awake this time," Vi said with a smirk.

"…No. Nope. No way. Nope, nope,nope. I'm dreaming. Or someone put some serious shit in something I drank. No way in hell," Caitlyn rambled. Vi rolled her eyes and took her shirt off, revealing the four marks where the bullets had hit home. Caitlyn stared, mesmerized.

"Remember Morgana? How she went flying off? You know her sister, yeah?" Vi prodded.

"Alright, I'll play along. Yes, I know of Kayle. What's the point?" Caitlyn asked.

"You've fought her on the Rift, yeah? I know I have," Vi groaned. Those fights usually did not go so well.

"Yes," Caitlyn said.

"Then you remember what her 'ultimate' ability is?" Vi steered the conversation.

"Divine Interven…tion… Are you… serious? Is it really you?" Caitlyn asked as she put two and two together. Vi grinned.

"Yep. I got lucky. Called Gangplank with my communicator to get me back here. Took a while, but hey, better late than never," She said with a shrug and a devil-may-care attitude. Caitlyn blinked a few times.

"And you decided that the best way to let me know the good news was to scare the living daylights out of your best friend?" Caitlyn demanded, despite the smile that was threatening her lips.

"You can never again tell me that I can never prank you. I got you way too good this time," Vi replied. Caitlyn stared. She tried to look mad. Then she tried to look annoyed. When neither of these worked, she finally let go. The tears flowed and Vi held Piltover's sheriff until she finally calmed down.

"The others… are you going to wait and tell them tomorrow?" Caitlyn asked, wiping her eyes dry. "Or," She added, narrowing them, "are you going to scare the shit out of them like you did me?"

"Well… I at least want to let Jinx know. And Kat. The others will be fine, but I get the feeling that Katarina's internalized this somehow," Vi said.

"Your psychological experience has given you very keen insight, Vi. She does indeed feel like she caused your death by leading the bullets to you. She's been compulsively training day in and day out. And I do mean compulsively. Unhealthily so, to be honest. It's been the same with your sister, only she's been doing nothing but making her own set of gauntlets," Caitlyn replied with a nod.

"Excuse me?" Vi was rather surprised to hear this news.

"Something about your blood was on her hands and so should your legacy. I told her it was utter nonsense to think that your blood was on anyone's hands but Swain's, but…" Vi sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Ugh… I'll take care of her. I'll visit Kat first though. Internalizing that sort of self-loathing and fault is a hell of a lot more unhealthy than trying to fix it," She said. "Good night, Cait," She said over her shoulder as she exited the room. Caitlyn smiled as she snuggled back into her bed.

"Good night indeed," She said.


	24. The Warrior Returns Alive

"Hyuah!" Katarina screamed as she tossed another blade. It landed dead into the tree trunk she'd been using to practice on, sending splinters flying into the dirt of Piltover's nature preserve. Fast as lightning, she pulled three more knives out and launched them forward, severing two limbs and severing one of the limbs in twine again as it fell.

Katarina grinned and wiped the sweat off her brow before checking her alarm clock. 2 AM… She still had another couple of hours to practice before she _had _to sleep. Frowning as she found herself out of knives, she walked over to the shredded tree and began pulling her thrown ones out before bending down to pick the rest off the ground. She set the last knife back in its holster and turned back around, proceeding to fall promptly on her butt in shock.

"Looks like you could use a little sleep," Vi said as she extended a bare hand to Katarina. The poor redhead was frozen up. She couldn't speak. Couldn't move. She was putting everything she had into comprehending the impossible.

"You… can't be here. No. No way," Katarina finally stuttered. Vi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? On what charges is Piltover's own Enforcer barred from her city? _I'm _the one that does the booting out around here," She replied with a laugh. Katarina shook her head violently.

"No. You're dead. I'm seeing shit. You CAN'T BE REAL!" Katarina went from scared to furious at herself for believing her own fantasy. She withdrew two blades and cocked back; surely couple knives through the illusion would fix this problem. When the "illusion" leapt forward and tackled her before she could throw, she went back into shock.

"Real enough to whoop your ass if you throw a knife at me," Vi replied, amused. She repeated the story she'd told Caitlyn before letting Katarina up and pulling the Noxian to her feet. "So. Still think you can knife me and make me poof into sparkles?" She asked smugly.

Katarina stared for a moment at Piltover's primary brawler before breaking down the same way Caitlyn had. And as Katarina fell to her knees, Vi saw clearly the markings on her neck that she'd glimpsed back at the prison. "…Kat, what did they do to you?" She whispered, spreading back the red hair and examining the bruises from the noose cutting into Katarina's flesh.

When Katarina was finished retelling her experience at Fort Shant, Vi stood expressionless, rage of inexpressible proportions dancing in her mind.

"It's one thing to order a hit on my parents. That was a long time ago. But you've made your last mistake now, Swain," Vi muttered into the empty night. "YOU HEAR ME, SWAIN?" She roared, pounding her fist into her palm. "I am so sorry, Kat," Vi whispered.

"Have you talked to Jinx yet?" Katarina asked as she stood back up. Vi shook her head. "What about Lux? Teemo? Trist?" Vi shook her head again. "So… why prioritize me over them?"

"Because you've suffered the most. You've endured the loss of your best friend, the psychological torment that hardened you into the killer you once were and now torture at the hands of my enemy," Vi explained. "Besides, I need sleep. Badly. Getting nearly killed after being shot after being tortured really takes it out of you," She joked. Katarina didn't laugh. "Well… good night," Vi said, walking away to leave Katarina in her thoughts.

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Vi woke up the next morning in her bed with a migraine, having snuck into her house and hitting her head on the doorway. Sitting up and massaging her forehead did the trick, so she got up and went down to the kitchen to get some food.

Walking into the kitchen, she saw Jinx sitting at the table with the morning newspaper next to her plate of eggs and bacon. "Holy shit that looks good," Vi commented as she spotted the food. Jinx sat straight up and nearly spat the milk in her mouth halfway across the table. She knew that voice.

The pale girl slowly turned her head. Surely she was hearing things. She's heard her sister. Her very dead sister. She turned around and found nothing. "Ok… weird…" She commented. She put her fork into her eggs again.

Vi grinned from behind the wall. "You calling me weird now, Jinx?" She called out from the wall. Jinx swallowed down the wrong pipe, choked, coughed for a solid minute and spun around again. This time she growled.

"I need to sleep more," She decided as she got up to wash her plate off. As she walked over to the sink, Vi silently followed until she was practically breathing down her sister's neck. She laid her chin on Jinx's left shoulder and a hand on her right.

"Sooooo… what's the plan for today?" She asked.

Jinx screamed as she caught sight of Vi's face in her peripheral vision, slipping out from Vi's body and drawing her trusty stun gun. "LeBlanc?" She demanded, stun gun charged and crackling. Vi's grin was stuck on her face even as she retold the story again. When she was done, Jinx's arm was wobbling uncertainly.

"I… prove it! Only Vi would know what to do with this," She said, sticking her right arm out. "The Double Trouble Shake. Even her battered memory would know this," Jinx told her.

Vi's memory flashed in her head for a moment and she instinctively took Jinx's hand in her left hand. "Alright, that's basic. What's that for?" Jinx asked, indicating their grip.

The answer came from a memory that Vi didn't even know was there. "Our strong bond," She said. Jinx narrowed her eyes. Test one, passed.

"And this?" She said, raising her fist to her eye level. Vi found another memory coming from seemingly nowhere and drew from it.

"Our fighting spirit," She said as she pounded her own fist against Jinx's. Jinx stared at her fist in shock before laughing hysterically until the laughter turned into tears in Vi's arms.

"Oh cogs and gears Vi… Don't DO that to me," Jinx chided after they parted. Vi held her hands out and shrugged.

"Not like I meant to have your psycho side riddle me with lead and tearing the house down on me," She said with a cocky smirk. Jinx rolled her eyes, and then got serious.

"Listen, this stunt… it can't go unpunished. Blowing down that prison… it isn't enough. We need a plan of attack now, not these little sneaky scouting missions. I managed to pick up some of the energy signature left from the paralyzing fields they used on us and took it apart molecule by molecule," She said, leading Vi into the Hextech Garage.

"And?" Vi asked.

"It was some sort of stimulant. Think a Denial of Service attack for the body. It gave our muscles so much stimulation that we couldn't do anything. I can develop a countersignature that essentially stops stimulation of that nature," Jinx said, showing Vi the readouts of her tests.

"I need to remake my gauntlets, they were destroyed back there," Vi changed the subject. Jinx snapped her fingers and turned back to face Vi.

"No you don't," She said. Vi raised an eyebrow and gave Jinx a skeptical look. Jinx responded by grinning and dragging Vi by the hand to the back of the room. "I remade 'em for you," She said, pointing to a large metal box hanging on the wall. Vi took the box down and opened it, grinning like a girl in a candy store as she saw the shiny set of gauntlets within.

"I made 'em myself, for myself, but they adjust," Jinx explained as Vi fitted them to her hands. She threw a few test punches and smirked. "So? Are they up to your standard?" Jinx asked, sticking her tongue out.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can work with these," Vi said.

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"We don't know if Swain realizes Vi is still alive," Lux said. They had traveled back to Castle Demacia and were in what was plainly called the "strategy room". The mentioned party nodded and frowned.

"Question is, how do we use that? Invade his bedroom and pretend I'm the ghost of Christmas Past?" She asked. Lux rolled her eyes but couldn't hold down a smile.

"Well for one, we'd need two other people, which would be harder to get in with, plus the chains and other props," She replied, attempting to sound serious and failing miserably. Riven pounding a fist on the table made Lux jump.

"See, that's where we're going wrong though. 'Harder to get in with'. We're past the point of 'getting into' places. We need a full-on broad force strike. As long as we keep hiding and trying to play the patience game, we're giving Swain more time to launch his own attack. And he's got Singed, who I'm quite sure is gleefully concocting bio-weapons even as we speak," Riven said grimly.

"Riven, we can't just nuke half of Noxus," Lux responded. Jinx held a finger up.

"Or can we?" Lux stared.

"Excuse me?"

"We put the word out to the Noxians: Get behind us or you're toast. That'll scare them out from the start and might force Swain into answering that threat with his own attack before he's ready to strike," Jinx explained.

"And if he doesn't strike back? What if he calls our bluff?" Tristana asked doubtfully.

"Who said we were bluffing?" Jinx grinned.

"So you're just going to wreck tons of homes and probably kill a shit-ton of people, including most likely some innocents who didn't take the threat seriously? There's no way I can bring myself to condone that. I don't think any of us could, even you despite the talk," Lux said firmly. Jinx smirked.

"Me? Nah. _I _wouldn't be able to do it. But there's someone who could do it easily and fuckin' enjoy it," She replied. Vi cocked her head, then her eyes widened. Jinx saw the realization hit her and grinned. "C'mon, sis. You remember the hell I raised in Piltover," She said.

"OK sure, but that was unintentional. You're talking about cutting loose the most violent and psychotic person in the world that is your other self on purpose to slaughter half of Noxus," Vi argued. Jinx balled up both fists in anger.

"What the hell's your point? Did you not see, did you not feel what happened back in that prison? Maybe I need to fuckin' remind you!" Jinx stormed over to Katarina, roughly turning her neck and exposing the still-present rope burns. "Or how about this?" She continued, parting her own hair in the back. Vi squinted and gasped as she saw a skull and crossbones branded into the skin.

"These fuckers asked for a fight, Vi. And I don't care who I have to get out of my way, Swain's sure as hell gonna get one," Jinx growled as she sat back down. Teemo squeaked.

"I agree. They… they shaved me," Teemo hung his head and lifted his hat. He was indeed bald; in the yordle community, such an act was considered the ultimate humiliation.

"I am in agreement with Jessebelle on this matter. The Demacian militia is ready to back you for whatever plan of action you decide on," Jarvan chipped in. Lux sighed. Her king was supporting the idea… maybe she was simply too soft to serve as a general.

"Fine. We send the word by-"

"I know how to send the message," Jinx cut in. Lux raised an eyebrow. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like this.


	25. The Final Battle

Lux indeed was not a fan of Jinx's idea. The idea, as Jinx had explained as if it was an ordinary method of delivery, was of course to fit a speaker inside a missile, attach hovering rockets to on each side of a trap door that the spear would come through, fire the missile and have it hover in the idea before blaring out its warning, at which point it would promptly burst into a "Fuck You Swain" message.

Jinx grinned as she aimed the rocket from atop Shyvanna's back. "Get ready for the knockback," She told the dragon. Shyvanna nodded and Jinx fired, pulling out her communicator. It was synched up with the speaker so that she could issue her message in person.

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"Sir, we have an object of unknown origin passing into our airspace," Swain swiveled around in his chair, ripped from his reading by the news. He narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" He demanded.

"Some sort of mis-" Randuin began, but was cut off.

"HELLO, BITCHES AND FAGGOTS! I COME TO YOU LIVE FROM JINX RADIO TO ISSUE THE FOLLOWING WARNING! ANYONE WHO IS NOT OUT OF NOXUS IN EXACTLY 48 HOURS AND 22 MINUTES WILL, I REPEAT, WILL BE BLOWN TO PIECES BY A FULL-FRONTAL ASSAULT MADE BY YOURS TRULY AND THE REST OF OUR GANG!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THAT DO NOT WISH TO BE ANNHILIATED, PACK YOUR SHIT AND LEAVE NOXUS POSTHASTE! THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE WARNING FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBOORHOOD PSYCHOPATH, JINX! OH, AND BY THE WAY…"

Swain, looking out the window of his home and covering his ears, saw the missile explode into its vulgar message. He nodded slowly. "Randuin, are the troops ready?" He asked, turning to his general.

"Yes sir."

"And Singed, is he prepared?"

"No sir, his chemicals take longer than we anticipated to be toxic," Randuin answered fearfully. Swain shrugged.

"Oh well. Fifty-fifty isn't too bad. He still has his smaller weapons. Have we found Morgana yet?"

"No sir," Randuin replied.

"One for three. Damn. Alas, it is what it is. They're trying to force our hand, Randuin. I say we show the full house. Our troops are armed with the new weapons we forged from the technology within those," Swain said, indicating Vi's gauntlets hanging on his wall.

Randuin smiled. "The day after tomorrow will be a good day to be Noxian," He commented.

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Vi grimaced as she parked her personal armored vehicle, issued courtesy of Demacia just outside of Noxus territory. She turned to look at Jinx, who nodded and took a breath as she got out of the car. She was trying to push out of her mind the faces of innocent men and women that would probably die today and not doing a very good job. 

Today was the day that Jinx had slated for Noxus' demolition, and very few civilians had actually evacuated. Jinx closed her eyes and focused. _Hey, you. We need to have a talk,_ Jinx "said" to the darker self that lay within her. Similarly to Katarina, time stopped for Jinx as her mirror image stepped out of her and spun around on her heel with a quick hop, grinning like a maniac.

"Wazzup, Jessie?" She asked cheerfully, twirling her ghostly stun gun around. "We got big plans today; well, you have big plans for me, I should say. Got a last minute pep talk?"

"No. I don't want to have to fight you like last time. When I try to take back control, you give it to me. Period. Other than that… No mercy. No limits. Nothing in this city is out of bounds. Men… women…" Jinx swallowed hard.

"Children?" The psychotic Jinx supplied. Jinx hesitated but nodded. "So in other words, the works?" Jinx nodded before pointing at the maniac within.

"It's all you," She said before letting go. Vi bit her lip as Jinx's eyes changed and her demeanor twisted. She felt like she was losing her sister until Jessebelle took control once again. "Dark Jinx" grinned as she hefted Fishbones and brazenly walked into the rural district of Noxus.

When Jinx had fired her warning message those two days back, she'd also had the missile relay to her a top-down map of Noxus' north end- the end that they would strike from. They had all gone over the map, discussing different strategies until they'd finally come upon an agreed plan. Noxus, like Piltover, was generally split between its rural and business areas.

Most of the shops, diners and entertainment facilities were located on the northeastern part of the city, streaked with roads and alleyways. The rural area was on the mirroring side, dotted with well-built houses that sheltered the well-off and splashed with a smaller area for those who hadn't had the strength to get high in Noxian society and were living in either blue-collar or poverty housing.

"Alright, Jinx inserted. You guys ready?" Vi spoke into her communicator.

"Yeah, we're ready," Caitlyn's voice crackled through the speaker. On the other side, the rest of the group along with half of Demacia's military forces sat outside the business district. "Alright, Jinx is in. Once she starts ripping into homes, they'll deploy forces to stop her. Once they split off for her, we go in and start raising hell in the business district," She reiterated the plan they'd come up with.

"And while that's going on, Vi will hunt for Swain himself," Lux added. They sat in silence until they saw a troop of guards rush down a main street. "That's our cue," She said, leading them into the city with a war cry.

It was chaos; Demacian soldiers and Noxus guards were fighting en masse while every champion from Demacia and Noxus leapt around, killing whatever got in their way. But as Caitlyn began to take aim at her first target, she froze and nearly dropped her gun.

On the arms of every Noxian soldier were replicas of Vi's signature weapons, obviously modified and further powered with the metal alloy they'd found in the mines. Rather than fighting sword to sword, the Demacians were forced to duck punch after punch. And if they happened to be too slow… Caitlyn cried out in horror and shock as a punch simply crumpled a man's skull with the hex-fueled explosion.

As Caitlyn stared at the aftermath, thoughts ran through her head. All this time that Vi had used those same weapons on criminals… Caitlyn had often chided Vi on her use of excessive force, and now she knew why Vi always shrugged her off; she WAS showing restraint when she used the weapons. Caitlyn shook her head clear and raised her rifle again, firing a shot right into a chink in the armor of the soldier she'd seen and putting a musket ball through his neck. He fell immediately, only to reveal other soldiers that were all armed similarly.

The others had noticed too. "These guys reverse engineered the gauntlets they found at the prison after it blew," Lux hissed. Riven nodded and raised her blade, leaping at a Noxian and cutting his arm straight off. "Well, that's how we beat 'em I guess," Lux said with a smirk before stunning the downed soldier, kicking off his helmet and plunging her own blade between his eyes.

Noxus saved its best for Demacia's best, and had sent its League champions on the hunt for Demacia's. It wasn't long before those champions started finding and fighting each other. Talon got the jump on Lux, his blade bouncing off of the armor she wore underneath her familiar robe. Lux spun around and swung hard with her own new sword, parrying the next slice from her enemy as he pushed the attack.

Katarina was a whirling dervish of metal and death. Soldiers within ten feet of her fell almost instantly, causing them to give her a wide berth as she ran, flipped, cartwheeled and spun her way through the battlefield. When she felt a pain on her left sole, she yelped and jumped back to see the steel sole of her shoe eaten through. "Cassie," She hissed, seeing the pool of acid she'd stepped in. Looking up, she just got out of the way of her sister's swiping strike, somersaulting up and over the orochi to avoid her poison.

Tristana and Teemo were pretty much figuratively kicking everyone in the shins. Poison darts and cannonballs flew, but Teemo noticed after a while that the cannonballs were no longer present. He turned this way and that, finally spotting Warwick with his teeth bearing down on his girlfriend. He yelled out, tipped a poison dart with blinding toxin and fired, scoring a shot straight in the forehead. The beast howled and missed his mark, giving Teemo his chance.

"Trist!" He cried, examining her briefly. She was sliced up, bleeding but still alive. "Let's get you out of here," Teemo whispered, putting her gingerly on his shoulders before making a mad dash for the nearest building.

"Kaboom," Caitlyn muttered as she fired her rifle with one hand and knocked out a soldier with the other, killing three men as the musket shot through their necks. Lux had fitted her rifle with a bayonet and gotten the marksman a few melee sparring matches in to prepare her for the close-quarters combat. On one hand it felt somewhat wrong to be using a blade rather than her handcuffs, but every time that guilt hit her the memory of the tasers that had been used on her paralyzed body while she lay in agony on the ground shoved it out.

Riven had not waited for someone to find her; she swung for the fences, sending limbs flying with swift strikes as she scoured the battleground for Singed. The two seemed to find each other at the same time, because Singed was ready. "Are you really _still _angry with me, Riven? After all these years?" He asked with a smirk.

"I am angry with myself for ever having trusted you just as much as I am at you, bio-terrorist. Your hands are dripping with Noxian and Ionian blood from that day, as are mine. Today I will wash myself in the waters of vengeance!" Riven vowed as she leapt up, stabbing down only for her runic energy wave to disperse into the cobblestone road.

Singed put a mocking hand to his mouth. "Oh, my, most dramatic. I must remember to give you a posthumous award for your acting career," He said with a grin before grabbing Riven by the shoulders and tossing her over his head. She hit the ground hard and grunted in pain, but shot back up faster than Singed had expected. He roared as her sword tore into his side, attempting to inject her with a needle but failing as she dashed aside.

"Uh-uh. Not this time," Riven waggled a finger before lashing out again.


	26. The Fallen

"Whee! Look at all the pretty colors, Fishbones!" Jinx giggled as another house went up in flames. "And the music… it's so beautiful," She added.

"I believe the 'music' is screaming, Jinx," Fishbones "replied". "He" was right; Jinx was enjoying hearing the cries of Noxians rising up to meet the smoke from the smouldering buildings. Some cries were from guards that had either been blown up or simply thrown backwards. Others were from innocents that hadn't heeded Jinx's warning and were burning along with their houses. And still others were from guards that were burning as well.

"Thank you for shopping Jinx Airlines!" She said cheerfully as a soldier attacked her, only to be driven away by a rocket to the gut. "Looks like you had a blast! Haha! Get it?" She said as the guard exploded along with the rocket a moment later. "I'd say fly with us again, but…" Jinx let it hang as she frowned down at the puddle that was once the poor soldier.

"There she is! Be careful, she's insane!" An enormous monster of a man, at least seven feet tall, ordered from beneath his bulky, ornate armor. The sword he held had a red blade, customary for Noxian generals as it reflected their fierceness in combat. But as Jinx stared at her new enemies, he was not her concern.

She was more concerned with the soldiers themselves. "Are those…?" She whispered. She quickly found that yes, those WERE Vi's gauntlets on the arms of every man in front of her as they dashed toward her in the Assault and Battery formation. "Shit!" She yelped, pulling a smoke grenade from her belt and tossing it down. By the time the fog had cleared, she was gone and the smoke had disrupted the gauntlet's homing programming.

"She can't have gone far and she can't run forever! Spread out, hunt her down in groups but stay apart so she can't blast you all at once. Smash her brains in!" Randuin ordered. As his men split off, he smiled under his helmet. "And meanwhile, I shall return to lead the other group," He said as he stalked off.

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"Come on… he must have ran off somewhere. He better pray that it was far enough," Vi growled as she prowled the empty alleyways that housed businesses and shelters alike. As she emerged into the main business area, she saw Caitlyn fighting and furrowed her brow; she'd gone too far. She turned to back and her blood ran cold at the sight she'd caught in the corner of her eye.

Riven and Singed were going at it, just like in the mines. Riven had been fighting off Singed's bio-weaponry at every turn, whether it be his clouds of toxins, the needles or even a poison-filled bomb he'd thrown. Vi could clearly see that Riven hadn't been able to avoid all of it; her eyes were glazed and her fighting was sloppy.

She saw it all happen in slow motion: Riven's knees buckle slightly, Singed's grin as he took advantage and threw her yet again and finally the soldier that turned around with her own hextech gauntlet technology and slammed the exile in the face. The explosion of hex energy literally crumpled Riven's skull; there was no coming back from that. No rescues. No divine intervention.

Vi's heart burned with emotion as the broken sword flew from Riven's limp hands, clattering along the ground until coming to a rest not far from Vi. The brawler looked at her gauntlets, charged with energy. She could charge in and swing for the fences at Singed's head. Hell, she could probably knock him into next week. But she shook her head: there was only one right course of action.

Katarina yelled her _real_ sister's best name as she saw the white hair disappear from view. She'd seen what had happened even as she pulled three knives from a downed warrior. Katarina was shocked to see hextech gauntlets on the new wave of soldiers in the first place, but now that shock was matched with despair. And then she saw Vi. Vi, the one who originally created the gauntlets that had just slain Riven.

Katarina was enraged. But she knew how to use the anger. _Hey, assassin. It's go time_¸ she thought.

_With pleasure_, the killer replied before bursting forth from Katarina's mind. She shunpo'd from one man to the next, an equal opportunity killing machine that Caitlyn had to jump away from. She ran straight for Vi and the real Katarina panicked; she was fighting to regain control over the cold heart that had broken free. _I act only on your innermost desires_, Katarina heard her dark self intone. Katarina tried to shake the fact that deep down she wanted Vi dead for enabling Riven's death but could not deny it.

Lux realized it first and fired a stun out, miraculously snaring Katarina. "Kat! Get ahold of yourself!" She yelled before spinning around and beheading a man who'd tried the same on her. Kat agreed inwardly and fought to regain control, but the assassin within broke out of the binding spell and continued her path of destruction toward Vi.

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Vi looked down at the broken sword… and began charging her gauntlets. And kept charging them. Caitlyn heard the familiar noise and looked over just in time to recognize what was happening. She'd heard that noise before when things had gone wrong in the garage and Vi had overcharged her gauntlets with energy. The results were often concussive.

"What are you doing, Vi?" She called as she pierced a man with the Demacian-issued bayonet on her rifle and fired into the hole she'd created. Vi gave a low whistle as she dropped her left gauntlet and held it in her right hand, overloading with hex energy.

"Playing catch," She growled before throwing the gauntlet overhead. It landed in the middle of a group of reinforcements that were charging into the battle and went off like a small nuclear bomb, annihilating them. "Get back!" She yelled, pointing to a group of Demacians who were engaging the enemy. They'd seen the first explosion and quickly ran as the other gauntlet blew up behind them, leaving another pile of ashes in the place of the soldiers that were standing there.

Then she knelt down and picked up Riven's blade. Singed, who had been watching the proceedings with interest, laughed heartily. "Going to try and avenge your fallen friend with her weapon? You use your fists, silly girl. I doubt you've ever used a sword in your life, much less a broken one," He sneered before charging forward with a huge syringe in his hand.

Vi grasped the hilt. Singed was right; she'd never used anything but her own two hands to settle her fights. She'd tried out weapons as a kid on the streets, but anything that wasn't either her own two fists or something to enhance them felt bulky and unwieldy. But this… This sword was not a sword. As Vi swung the blade and severed the needle, the weapon became nothing more than an extension of her own body. As Singed gaped at the useless item, Vi dove and rolled behind him, popping back up and slicing through the hoses that connected the poison emission barrels to his back, causing it to fall to the ground and leave him with nothing but his own two hands and the emergency dagger at his side.

Singed was dumbstruck as he watched Vi expertly spin the blade as if she'd used it from birth, charging forward and throwing the blade at his face like a spear. Singed went prone to dodge it and rolled back over just in time to see the broken sword somehow flying back through the air and into returning to its wielder's hand. He rolled again to avoid being skewered, rose to his feet and was greeted with a slash that laid open his left cheek.

"That one's for Lux!" Vi spat. With Singed reeling, she slashed again, exposing the muscle and tendons of his right leg. "For Katarina!" She continued, followed by a vicious slice that removed his left arm from his body. "For Jinx!" Singed continued on raw instinct to step back as Vi put her right foot forward, spun on it, stomped her left foot down as she turned from him and pushed off as hard as she could, driving the blade barely past the tip into Singed's forehead. "And this," She hissed, dropping low and kicking out to take his legs out, "is for Riven," she finished, axe-kicking the blade down to the hilt into the ground through the terrorist's brain.

Caitlyn was nearly paralyzed in shock as she watched Vi at her deadliest. She remembered what Vi had told her before, that the brawler had blood on her hands from her past. But now she'd seen it in person, and it horrified the sheriff. She stared as Vi roughly yanked the blade from the dirt as she took deep breaths.

"YOU!" Vi looked up just in time to avoid Katarina's attack. "You did this, you bitch!" She roared as she slashed again. Vi raised Riven's sword in time to deflect the blow and jumped back to create space between the two women. Vi looked at Katarina first in disbelief, then in understanding as she noticed the cold eyes. .

"Kat, get your fuckin' dark side under control!" Vi demanded as she tumbled away from the continued assault. Around them the war raged, Demacian against Noxian, champions against champions, and even as Vi continued to defend herself she wondered where Swain could be. A shallow cut to her arm brought her back to the fight at hand.

"You're the one that invented those damn things! You. Killed. Riven! PAY!" Katarina shrieked, intensifying her strikes and forcing Vi back. The enforcer quickly looked left and right before noticing Caitlyn. Her sharpshooting partner could surely incapacitate the out-of-control assassin long enough for her to regain control. Vi began to back off in Caitlyn's direction, but Katarina kept coming.

Caitlyn realized that Vi was trying to line up a shot, but with the two in such close quarters it was nearly impossible for her to hit one without hitting the other. She growled and spun around to see a Noxian swinging toward her, barely missing her head and sending her signature hat flying. Caitlyn snarled in a very un-Caitlyn-like manner. No one, but NO ONE touched her hat.

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"Did I shake 'em…?" Jinx wondered as she ran toward the fighting in the business end of town. "Well, shit. Guess not," She said with a smirk as she saw a wall of men in front of her. Leading them was Randuin, who ducked as Jinx fired her "ultimate" rocket. Even he was impressed at the damage it'd done- it had literally flattened his men into the earth and created a depression in the ground. Luckily, his stronger armor had protected him from that fate.

"So… You're Randuin, eh? The one that directly ordered the hit? You took my parents, my life and my sanity from me," Jinx said, her psychosis melting away as she saw the man. The two circled each other, measuring, assessing. Randuin unsheathed his sword and nodded.

"It was nothing personal. It was a military-issued order from my higher-up. I was told to eliminate as many of Zaun's military officers as possible. I was raised in this city-state and its army, Jessebelle," Randuin said. "You must understand that. And to refuse an order from Swain is to invite death and allow the order to go through anyway."

"That doesn't erase the suffering that my sister and I have endured," Jinx snapped.

"Nor does the fact that you've recovered from your insanity assuage the pain of the families you destroyed," Randuin answered. Jinx blinked and bit her lip. He was right.

"…You don't even want to fight me, do you? Down deep, you never wanted any of it, did you? The military, being a captain, ordering hits…" Jinx asked. Randuin looked at the ground briefly, though his mind screamed at him to stop letting his guard down.

"My father, my grandfather, his father… the lineage intertwines with this militia many, many generations, girl. It wasn't really a choice."

"But if it was a choice?" Jinx pressed.

"…I don't know. I just don't know," Randuin replied, troubled. Jinx hesitated; she had the perfect shot lined up in a small hole in his armor. And then she heard something she never thought she'd hear.

_Drop the gun_, Jinx heard her other side advise. She noticed that time had been stopped again, and Jinx sidestepped from Jessebelle. Jessebelle turned her head and rose an eyebrow.

"You've trusted me all day, haven't you? Trust me here. I don't know why, but somehow I just feel like you're needed in the fight ahead. I may be crazy, but trust me on this one. Besides, if you don't kill him it's 160 ounces of blood less on your hands! Maybe more, judging from the size of him," Jinx added. Jessebelle blinked a few times, decided she really didn't want to know how or why the psychopath knew that number and nodded.

Jinx slipped back inside and time went on as normal. Jinx remained still for several seconds before finally putting Fishbones onto her back. "I… I don't want to fight either. I have somewhere else to be," She approached her former opponent and removed his helmet. Randuin did not resist; he seemed torn between emotions. Placing a hand on his bare shoulder, she smiled. "You won't have to fight anymore. Trust me," Jinx said as she met eyes with the man, then gave him back his helmet.

"Why's that?" Randuin asked as she walked away, replacing his headpiece.

"Because I'm going to make all your problems go away," Jinx smirked as she heard the timer go off on the timed mine she'd place on his form and grinned as his final cry of pain split the air. "And you're next, Swain," She growled as she ran ahead.


	27. Of Darkness And Life

"Get…ahold… of yourself!" Vi grunted from the ground as she struggled to keep Katarina's knife-wielding hands away from her neck. Her eyes widened as she saw the blade nearing her neck despite her struggle. The knife was tickling the skin of her neck when Vi felt a violent force shove Katarina off. "Ergh… what the hell…?"

"We meet again, assassin!" Jinx declared dramatically as she backed off of the recovering redhead. Vi recognized her sister's demeanor immediately as the "Jinx" side and cursed.

"It's dark against dark again," She said to Caitlyn as she joined her. Caitlyn also swore. "Cait, help me," Vi said as she saw Riven's body on the ground. Piltover's finest hurried over and carefully picked her up, cradling her body gently as they took it out of the battlefield. Seeing Teemo relatively nearby in one of the vehicles they'd ridden in with a badly wounded Tristana , they rushed over and lay Riven's broken body on the ground.

Teemo gasped and turned his head as though the sight of Riven's head had burned his eyes. "This war… it's reached its final battle. The final battle always has the most casualties…" He lamented. Tristana grimaced in pain both physically and emotionally and nodded her agreement, then moaned. Teemo rushed over as Tristana's head began to fall.

"Teemy-poo?" She whispered.

"Trist, no. No. NO! You stay with-" Tristana held up a hand and looked up, visibly straining to fight off the darkness clouding her vision. She smiled and pulled Teemo in close as Piltover's finest looked on in horror, lips trembling as they held each other waiting for the inevitable.

"Win this… Win this for Bandle. For Runeterra. For me," And with that, Tristana slumped over as life left her eyes. The remaining three warriors looked down for a moment, eyes closed in a moment of respectful silence before Vi approached Riven's prone form and bent down.

"There's only one thing to do now," Vi said as she carefully took the sword's sheath and placed it on her own body, sheathing the blade. She began to walk away at a brisk pace.

"Where are you going?" Caitlyn cried. Vi turned.

"To finish this. Stay here and guard them," Vi said coldly before resuming her path. Caitlyn nodded. She knew that Vi had somehow deduced Swain's location and that she was going to end this war… and his life.

As Vi got back to the business border, she saw an impressive sight. Jinx was going blow-for-blow with Katarina, dodging, weaving, and lashing out with martial arts moves that Vi would never have expected from her sister. It appeared that Jinx was just as good at close quarters combat as Vi was… or was it Jessebelle who was that good, having trained with Vi all those years ago?

"Katie, I know you're in there! Come on! Don't make me shoot you!" Jinx said, showing a rare compassion from the psychopath. Katarina bared her teeth and slashed, missing her mark as Jinx dodged and struck back like lightning.

"I'm not even after you, but now that you're in my way I'll have to take you out too! Vi's the one that deserves death for bringing on the end of my mentor!" Katarina yelled. Vi made herself scarce as she ran by, avoiding the assassin's gaze as she ran by the two fighting friends.

_She'll be ok for a while_¸ Vi told herself as she eyed her destination in the distance. Right smack dab between the two districts of Noxus was LeBlanc's castle of a home and it was a known fact that she often met with Swain there for various reasons. Some had even speculated a relationship, but never dared to go any louder than whispers about it.

It took about fifteen minutes for Vi to make her way through the streets and to the gates of the house. She drew her blade and destroyed the two turrets disguised as ornaments on the gate doors, sliced through the latch and flung open the gate, charging full force and busting down the door. Splinters flew as she skidded on a rug, causing Vi to nearly lose balance.

She looked around and quickly checked the six rooms on the first floor. Nothing. Then she climbed the spiral staircase and heard quite a bit of cursing which she followed until finally she kicked down one final door to stare down her prey. "Jericho Swain… and this time it's a fair fight," She said. The room was small, barely able to put ten feet between the two as Swain backed into the far wall.

"How...? How did you survive?! The army… the torture fort… you even managed to endure certain death as your plan backfired at the fort and invade this house. I don't know how, but this is not the end," The tactician said. Then he made a dash for the only window in the room, only to be blocked by Vi's arm. The other arm swung around and grabbed Swain by the throat, slamming him into the wall.

"I survived because I will not rest until you are made to pay for everything you've done. This started between you and me, Swain. You murdered my parents. You took my life from me. You destroyed my sister's mind and her life. You tortured my frien- no," Vi paused, "you tortured my family. Those people have stuck with me through the war that you staged and you caused them unending pain for it," Vi hissed.

"You gave me the tools I needed to begin the invasion and conquest that we have claim to. You gave me a reason. You gave me the weapons," He said, gesturing his hand to Vi's old gauntlets mounted on his wall. "Your friends have fallen and turned on one another. How long can you keep this resistance up for?"

"Noxians are all about power, Swain. And that's where your empire's going to come crashing down. See, once you're gone Noxus will be out a grand tactician and military leader. Noxians are so hungry for the power that makes or breaks them in their own society that they will fucking implode on themselves fighting for that position," Vi explained. "And when your city-state collapses in its own cesspool of greed, violence and hatred, I'll be there to see to the reconstruction of the Noxus that made women like Riven proud to serve it," With that, she pulled the stun gun she'd jacked off Jinx earlier and pointed it at Swain.

"You honestly thing an energy jolt will stop me long enough?" Swain smirked. Vi laughed.

"Nah. But this will," She said as the gun fired a green bolt out at Swain, sending him to the floor. "As you may have guessed from those there gauntlets," Vi swept a hand to her old weapons, "I'm pretty good at on-the-fly tech adapting. I stole this off of my sister while she was fighting Katarina and modified it using the same energy signature found in your paralyzing ray thing. Still had a bit left over, not enough to do anything, in my body at the time," She finished, smiling smugly down over him. "Payback's a bitch, eh?" She asked as she bent down.

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_Assassin, Jinx is NOT our enemy! _Katarina screamed once again as her other half continued to assault Jinx's psycho side.

_She got in our way. This is what happens to those who get in our way… But she's a tad too strong. We're breaking even at each other. I commend her for such skill, whether it comes from Jessie or Jinx. And besides, look who it is_, Katarina took back control just in time to break off her current attack and look up.

Vi was dragging an unmoving yet conscious Swain to the battlefield. "LISTEN UP!" She yelled. The fighting between the soldiers didn't stop. Jinx grinned and pulled out Fishbones.

"I got this," She said before firing a rocket into the air. It exploded with a loud enough noise to startle every soldier and momentarily halt the action. Vi took Swain and brazenly walked into the midst of the warriors both Demacian and Noxian and held Riven's sword to Swain's neck.

"This war is over. Your leader took a personal vendetta and turned it into a bloodbath, but it's over now. I implore you, both sides of you, to drop your weapons and accept that. No more blood need be shed," Vi stated. A vast murmuring ran through the crowd as the Noxians saw their leader compromised. And slowly but surely, each Noxian lay down their hextech gauntlets.

"Thank you. You all have already shown more sense than this asshole ever will," Vi said, roughly indicating Swain. "Piltover and Demacia will join together as one to help you rebuild your city-state not only in terms of physical damage but also as a social hierarchy within the next few weeks. Some of your most prominent figureheads have been eliminated as a result of this conflict," Vi continued as LeBlanc's jail sentence and Randuin's assumed death ran through her head as well as Katarina's severance from her military roots.

A soldier pushed his way past a few others and removed his helmet, then stepped forward to face Vi. She tensed, ready to brawl and saw both Caitlyn and Teemo aimed dead at the man. "I am second in command under the late Randuin. Swain obviously is incapable of further leading his troops and the others above me are in one way or another indisposed. As such, it is my duty to accept the offer of peace you are giving," He announced.

"Yeah? Put it there then," Vi said, dropping Swain and sheathing her sword so that she could extend a free hand. The soldier stared at it for a minute before finally shaking hands with her. "Peace offering accepted, then. We have matters to attend to before we assist you with your own issues, but we will be back," Vi promised before picking Swain up again and rushing over to Caitlyn and Teemo.

The sight that greeted her made her grin. Warwick and Talon were bound in Morgana and Lux's imprisoning spells, Cassiopeia had been straight knocked out. Vi raised the stun gun again, fired four shots and gave the pistol back to Jinx before looking over at Singed's gruesome form. She shook her head before walking over to the other side of the vehicle they were near, where the group had laid Riven and Tristana's lifeless forms. Vi began to cry at the sight of Riven's head alone and removed the sword in its sheath from her body, laying it respectfully across the exile's chest.

"I heard there were injured," Vi spun around to see Soraka standing behind her.

"How the fuck?" She demanded through tears. Soraka smiled gently.

"I was informed of the final battle and rushed to this site as fast as- oh my stars…" Soraka gasped as she caught sight of Riven and Tristana. She knelt, placed her hands on Riven's chest, then repeated the process on Tristana, then closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Their spirits are still inside, but without life energy I can not do anything for them," Soraka said regretfully. Vi nodded as Jinx and Katarina joined them.

"I assumed as much. Go help the other inj-" Katarina held a hand up to interrupt Vi. She was listening to the assassin within. Suddenly, without warning and without time stopping the other Katarina stepped forward, a ghostly copy of the girl.

"A split personality spiritually manifested," Soraka observed. When the psycho in Jinx did the same, Soraka marveled. But it was Caitlyn that understood.

"Guys… Those two are their own person. Their own traits, their own mind. Think about what that means," She urged. Everyone frowned in confusion until Lux finally caught on.

"Those two other sides… the corrupted parts of Jessebelle and Katarina carry their own life force!" She realized. The two spectral counterparts turned to their originators.

"She's right, Katie," the second Katarina said. "If we sacrifice ourselves to Soraka's magic, she can give those two life again."

"Yep. It'd be as easy as one bullet, two rockets, three explosions," Jinx said cheerfully. Jessebelle and the original Katarina looked at each other. Sure, neither of them liked being the person that stood before them, but the psychopaths were still part of who they were.

"Don't worry, Jessie. I'll always be there in ya. Well, maybe not me, I'll be pure energy, but… you'll be… you. You, and only you," Jinx said. The assassin nodded agreement.

"Do it, then," Katarina said. Jessebelle nodded and Soraka began to utter an incantation. As the clones began to fade, the assassin held out a clenched fist.

"Forever strong!" She cited the Noxian motto before vanishing into a ball of white light.

"No matter where we go or what we do, Jessie," Jinx said before doing the same. Soraka frowned and shook her head, causing everyone around to stare, waiting for an explanation anxiously.

"You're right and wrong, my friends. We can indeed use the life force that was just provided… but only for Tristana, unless someone else here would willingly sacrifice their lives," Soraka said. Katarina grabbed her by the lapels.

"Explain," She growled.

"Small person, smaller life energy requirement. We are not talking about what makes them, well, them, we're talking about the raw energy that gives them life. There is enough here to save Tristana… but unfortunately not enough for the Exile," Soraka remained as calm as possible while relaying the bad news, but her own voice shook as well.

"Then we'll do what we can. Help Tristana," Vi said. Soraka held her hand out, cupped it and allowed the two white orbs to empty themselves into it, creating a small pool of energy in her palm. She bent down and released the energy over Tristana's face, causing the yordle to gasp as she was given life.

Vi turned and walked over to Katarina while the others tended to Tristana. The former assassin was kneeling at Riven's side, her tears beginning to stain the latter's shirt. "She died for a cause that she believed in, Katie," Vi said, kneeling as well and placing her hand on her shoulder. "There's no better way to die than that."

Katarina was silent, but she nodded slightly. Then she stood up, picking Riven up with her. "I want her buried in Piltover, if that's ok," She said quietly as she gently set Riven on a waiting stretcher belonging to one of the many ambulance that had shown to treat the wounded and dead from the war-ending battle.

"I'll oversee it personally, Kat," Vi promised as Katarina collapsed into her. "She'll be honored."


	28. Epilogue

_Three months later…_

Swain and his other League champion cohorts had been detained by the Institute of War itself, released only for League matches and carefully guarded and watched at all times. The Noxian Invasion war, as it had been come to be known, had come to a close and Noxus was well in its way to being a prideful city-state again with its new Grand Tactician in Darius as well as several other changes to their political positions. Times were looking promising for them.

But today was not a day of cheer. Vi felt like it held no promise except for that of heartache as she put on her first ever dress, black and plain. She left her gauntlets on the wall and put on black heels instead of her usual boots. Today was Riven's funeral.

"C'mon Cupcake, it's time," Caitlyn stood in the Piltover police station's doorway wearing a similar black dress. She'd left behind her hat but kept her boots because "there didn't need to be a death at a funeral," Caitlyn had said about her ability at walking in heels.

"Coming," Vi said. As she exited the building at sat down in Caitlyn's personal car, she saw Jinx and Katarina already in the back seat. They too were dressed in customary black clothes and Katarina had opted to leave her blades at Jinx and Vi's house.

The Noxian had moved in with them, feeling uncomfortable living in her former Noxian residence. Katarina had helped the two sisters renovate the place, expanding it to properly accommodate three women and now the place was almost as big as Caitlyn's wealthy estate.

They drove in near silence until they reached the gravesite, where the rest of their guerilla group had gather along with hundreds of soldiers both Demacian and Noxian. While the others went to sit down, Vi approached the podium that was set in front of the hole that was to be Riven's grave.

She closed her eyes for a moment, wiped away a few tears and drew in a deep breath. "I would say that we're here today to bury the fallen hero of a tragic war, but that would be a bullshit way to honor Riven," Vi said, completely forgetting the speech she'd practiced. "I know that her death is a tragedy, but her life sure as hell wasn't. I say we stop crying and remember who Riven was; a woman who gave it all for everything she believed in. Let's remember the badass who racked up a kill count with half a sword."

Caitlyn sighed and gave a small smile. Lux rolled her eyes. The yordles facepalmed. Jinx chuckled. And Katarina…

Katarina walked slowly up to the podium and locked eyes with Vi, her expression unreadable. Was she mad at the unconventional eulogy? Did she want to say something? Katarina held a hand up.

"Damn straight," She said as she took Vi's hand in her own and took her into a hug.

Caitlyn got up and slung her rifle over her shoulder. "Ten-hut!" She called. Nineteen men with rifle and Jinx stood to attention. "21 guns up!" She ordered. 20 rifles and one machine gun rose skyward. "Salute!" Every gun went off as two pallbearers passed underneath, Riven's casket in tow. They slowly lowered it into the grave and the hole was filled.

"Kat!" Katarina turned around. She'd been just about to approach the gravestone, alone after everyone else had left. She turned around to see Vi standing in front of her, holding the sheathed broken blade of her mentor in her hands in presentation. "Riv would've wanted you to have it," Vi said.

Katarina took the blade up, securing the sheath on her belt. She took a practice swing with it and smiled for the first time in months; it felt perfect. "…I've not had much experience with a sword. Mind a little training practice?" She asked. Vi smiled and nodded.

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A light burned bright, invading her eyelids and irritating her eyes even as she moaned. Raising a hand to block out the eerily green light, Riven got on all fours and looked up. Black trees loomed over her and the light that had awoken her cast her own shadow in the otherwise black night. She could make out an ocean in the distance, but very far away. Was she in hell…?

"Where in the blue hell am I?" She wondered, righting herself and turning back to the light. Maybe the light was what she was- whoa, or maybe that _wasn't _the light she was supposed to be following. That light was the one emanating from Thresh's latern.

"You, dear, are on the Shadow Isles," Riven whipped around left and right and Thresh smiled, pointing up. Riven did so and stifled a scream as she saw Elise's spider form hanging from a tree by her web. "You're lucky. Thresh is getting soft, I tell you," Elise grinned as she returned to human form.

"Shut it, arachnoyance," Thresh said, using his favorite nickname for the Spider Queen. She rolled her eyes. "I'm the keeper of souls, Riven,"

"I'm aware," Riven said warily.

"I heard of the war. Of your death. Even I could not simply allow a warrior so valiant to die by such a vile manner as chemical warfare. You've got one more chance. I cannot do this again," Thresh explained. Riven narrowed her eyes.

"Appreciated, and no offense, but from what I've heard you aren't the charitable type. What's the catch?" She asked. Thresh grinned.


	29. And One For The Road (Author's Note)

Author here. I really should have said this in a footnote on the last chapter or something, but I was too lazy after having uploaded… six? I think six chapters. ANYWAY.

Yes, there is a part two in the works. 23 Microsoft Word pages in the making, actually. I'll post some of it up soon, but in the meantime, here's a preview.

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"You're going to have to get past this. You don't want to do what I did," Katarina said to a sniffling Vi. The officer had been crying her eyes out for an hour now, Katarina attempted to console her to little avail.

"Katie, I think part of it is some weird urge to grasp on to every memory I can. Like some weird way of making up for the memories I've lost. I don't know… I just know that it keeps happening when I see my gauntlets. Not every time though. I just wish… I wish she was…" Vi broke down again.

"I know, Vi. I wish she were here too. She was my mentor, my friend and my sister. We'll get through this together, Vi. God knows I've had my moments too. You know, what do you think Riven would say if she saw you like this right now over her?" Katarina asked. Katarina went to hug Vi but her movement was cut short by another cry of pain from Vi. "Vi, what's wrong? Stay with me!" Katarina demanded. Vi's face was a mask of pain and yet again she doubled over. "What the fuck?!" Katarina yelled.

Vi couldn't answer. Her head was swimming. Katarina's voice was merely another painful addition to the stimuli attacking her brain. And then she was back at the battle again, just like all the other times. It was always like this. Immense physical pain followed by an intense emotional rending, leaving her raw and delicate inside and out. The same image replayed, forcing Vi to watch Riven's brains scatter again from an impact made by her own gauntlets.

"MY FUCKING FAULT!" Vi screamed. Downstairs, Jinx winced and sighed. This was the third time it had happened now, and going up again was useless. Vi drew in ragged breaths as she snapped back to the present. "It's always like this…" She whispered as tears flowed, looking at the blood that only she could see on her hands. It dripped onto the white sheets of the bed she lay on, stained the cloth and then disappeared before her eyes. No stain, no smell, nothing.

"Come here. Come on. If you keep giving into this it's going to eat you alive," Katarina admonished as she hugged Vi again. The ex-con closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. This therapy session was being a waste of time. Vi shook her head and got off the bed.

"Thank you, Kat. But I think you're wasting your time. I just gotta… work through this," She said before leaving the room. Katarina cursed as she too took her leave, watching Vi descend the stairs and exit the house.

Around the back of the house, Riven gaped. She'd heard everything. Her death had meant more and done even more damage to Vi than Riven had ever expected. Riven bit her lip as she thought of something to do before a smile spread over her face. She watched Vi get into her car and leave, giving little thought to Caitlyn's cruiser in front of the house before Riven revved the engine of the aforementioned car and took off in pursuit.

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Hopefully that'll tide those that read and enjoy this over for a bit. Hopefully I'll have some of Part 2 posted within the next few days, so be watching for that. Unless I change my mind, I'm calling it "Black Ice" so that might clue you in a TINY bit on where our entourage might be headed and who they might run into :P.

Before I take my leave of this installment, I'd like to say thanks to anyone and everyone who read this and an even bigger thanks to those that cared enough to leave a review. They're greatly appreciated and I'm glad that so many people enjoyed my version of the REAL story between the Loose Cannon and the Piltover Enforcer.


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